debenture
/dɪˈbɛntjʊə/noun
debenture is spelled D-E-B-E-N-T-U-R-E: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 76,798th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, debenture means “A certificate that certifies an amount of money owed to someone; a certificate of indebtedness” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of debenture is debentures.
How many letters and syllables are in debenture?
| Letters | 9: D-E-B-E-N-T-U-R-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 7 million words; the 76,798th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is debenture?
Debenture appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 76,798th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce debenture?
- UK /dɪˈbɛntjʊə/
- UK /dɪˈbɛntʃə/
Debenture has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-debenture.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of debenture
- debentures plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does debenture mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A certificate that certifies an amount of money owed to someone; a certificate of indebtedness.
- 2
obsoleteA certificate of a loan made to the government; a government bond.
- 3
USA type of debt instrument secured only by the general credit or promise to pay of the issuer, not involving any physical assets or collateral, now commonly issued by large, well established corporations with adequate credit ratings.
- 4
UKA document granting lenders a charge over a borrower’s physical assets, giving them a means to collect a debt, as part of a secured loan.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Debenture in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense certificate that certifies an amount of money owed to someone:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | débenture |
| Portuguese | debênture |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does debenture come from?
From earlier debentur, from Latin debentur (“they are owing”), supposedly the first word of such a document in early times. The ending was apparently influenced by words in -(t)ure.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).