Phrase guide

promissory note

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˈpɹɑmɪsɔɹiˌnoʊt/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money to someone else, often with the deadline and interest fees; the primary purposes of a promissory note are to evidence the debt obligation incurred, and to establish terms for payment thereof.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: business, finance

Examples

  • Near-synonym: IOU

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: note payable, IOU

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: negotiable instrument, instrument, note, document

2

noun

Meaning 2

a promise to pay a specified amount on demand or at a certain time

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • I had to co-sign his note at the bank

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: note, note of hand

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: debt instrument, obligation, certificate of indebtedness

Narrower terms: demand note, note receivable, note payable, municipal note, IOU, time note

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

47 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: մուրհակ (murhak) — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Azerbaijani: veksel — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Bulgarian: запис на заповед (zapis na zapoved) — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Chinese Mandarin: 本票 (běnpiào) — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Chinese Mandarin: 期票 (qípiào) — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Czech: směnka — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Danish: egenveksel — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Danish: solaveksel — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Danish: gældsbrev — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Dutch: orderbriefje — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Finnish: oma vekseli — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • French: billet à ordre — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • German: Solawechsel — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • German: Eigenwechsel — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Greek: υποσχετικό γραμμάτιο (yposchetikó grammátio) — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Greek: γραμμάτιο (grammátio) — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Hungarian: saját váltó — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Hungarian: kötelezvény — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Hungarian: ígérvény — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Indonesian: surat sanggup bayar — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Indonesian: surat perjanjian utang — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Italian: pagherò — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Japanese: 約束手形 (yakusoku tegata) — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Japanese: 約手 (yakute) — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Latin: syngrapha — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Latvian: parādzīme — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Macedonian: проме́са (promésa) — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Macedonian: соло меница — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Malay: nota janji — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Malay: nota janji hutang — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Plautdietsch: Schultbewiess — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Polish: weksel własny — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Portuguese: livrança — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Portuguese: nota promissória — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Punjabi: ਵਸੀਕਾ (vasīkā) — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Romanian: bilet la ordin — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Romansh: cambiala propria — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Russian: ве́ксель (vékselʹ) — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Russian: долгова́я распи́ска (dolgovája raspíska) — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Serbo-Croatian: mjenica — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Spanish: pagaré — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Swedish: löpande skuldebrev — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Tagalog: pagare — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Tagalog: kasulatang pangako — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Thai: ตั๋วสัญญาใช้เงิน (dtǔua-sǎn-yaa-chái-ngən) — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Welsh: addaweb — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money
  • Welsh: nodyn addewid — document saying that someone owes a specific amount of money