# lend

> English word · Verb · IPA /lɛnd/ · frequency rank #8,057

## Definitions
1. To allow to be used by someone temporarily, on condition that it or its equivalent will be returned.
2. To make a loan.
3. To be suitable or applicable, to fit.
4. To afford; to grant or furnish in general.
5. To borrow.

## Etymology
From earlier len (with excrescent -d, as in sound), from Middle English lenen, lænen, from Old English lǣnan (“to lend; give, grant, lease”), from Proto-West Germanic *laihnijan, from Proto-Germanic *laihnijaną (“to loan”), from Proto-Germanic *laihną (“loan”), from Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ- (“to leave, leave over”).
Cognate with Scots len, lend (“to lend”), West Frisian liene (“to lend, borrow, loan”), Dutch lenen (“to lend, borrow, loan”), Danish låne (“to lend, loan”), Swedish låna (“to lend, loan”), Icelandic lána (“to lend, loan”), Icelandic léna (“to grant”), Latin linquō (“quit, leave, forlet”), Ancient Greek λείπω (leípō, “leave, release”). See also loan.

## Easily confused with
- **LN** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lend-vs-ln)
- **let** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lend-vs-let)
- **leo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lend-vs-leo)
- **les** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lend-vs-les)
- **lid** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lend-vs-lid)
- **lin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lend-vs-lin)
- **lex** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lend-vs-lex)
- **Lew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lend-vs-lew)
- **LSD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lend-vs-lsd)
- **lev** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lend-vs-lev)
- **Lon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lend-vs-lon)
- **lyn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lend-vs-lyn)
- **ley** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lend-vs-ley)
- **lun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lend-vs-lun)
- **Lod** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lend-vs-lod)
- **long** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lend-vs-long)
- **less** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lend-vs-less)
- **line** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lend-vs-line)
- **lord** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lend-vs-lord)
- **link** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lend-vs-link)

## Common misspellings (6)
`elnd`, `ledn`, `lendd`, `lennd`, `llend`, `lned`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/lend