usury
/ˈjuʒəɹi/noun
usury is spelled U-S-U-R-Y: 5 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 50,539th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, usury means “An exorbitant rate of interest, in excess of any legal rates or at least immorally” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of usury is usuries.
How many letters and syllables are in usury?
| Letters | 5: U-S-U-R-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 50,539th 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 usury?
Usury appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 50,539th 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 usury?
- UK /ˈjuːʒəɹi/
- US /ˈjuʒəɹi/
- Australia /ˈjʉːʒəɹi/
Usury 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: En-us-usury.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-usury.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of usury
- usuries plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does usury mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An exorbitant rate of interest, in excess of any legal rates or at least immorally.
- 2
The practice of lending money at such rates.
- 3
archaicThe practice of lending money at interest.
In medieval Europe, Jews were often linked to usury and therefore persecuted by authorities.
- 4
obsoleteProfit.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Usury in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | usure |
| German | Wucher, Wucherzins , Wucherei, Zinswucher, Wuchern |
| Portuguese | usura |
| Spanish | usura |
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 usury come from?
From Middle English usurie, from Latin ūsūria, from ūsūra (“lending at interest, usury”) from ūsus (“use”), from stem of ūtī (“to use”). Compare usurp and use.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).