usurer

[ yoo-zher-er ]

noun

1. a person who lends money and charges interest, especially at an exorbitant or unlawful rate; moneylender.
2. Obsolete. a person who lends money at interest.

usurer

/ ˈjuːʒərə /

noun

1. a person who lends funds at an exorbitant rate of interest
2. obsolete.
   a moneylender

Word History and Origins

Origin of usurer¹

1250–1300; Middle English < Anglo-French < Medieval Latin ūsūrārius, equivalent to ūsūr ( ia ) usury + Latin -ārius -ary

Example Sentences

As Exodus 22:25 states: “If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.”

From Los Angeles Times

Khushnud Dado and Farrukh Vaitov were in town to perform a play called "The Death of the Usurer" by famous Tajik writer Sadriddin Ayni, news website Sugdnews says.

From BBC

As Exodus 22:25 states: “If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.”

From Los Angeles Times

“Totentanz” is based on a 15th-century frieze in Lübeck, Germany, that was destroyed during World War II. It illustrated with text Death moving down the social scale as he danced with pope, emperor, cardinal, king, monk, knight, mayor, doctor, usurer, merchant, clerk, hand worker, peasant, maiden and child.

From Los Angeles Times

For “Merchant,” which begins performances at the Tina Packer Playhouse on Friday, July 1, she reconceives a play she staged for the troupe in 1998, with the same actor, Jonathan Epstein, playing the much-maligned usurer Shylock.

From New York Times

Related Words

• backer
• banker
• broker
• capitalist
• entrepreneur
• merchant
• operator
• speculator
• stockbroker
• tycoon