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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

2 entries under this word

Insolvent

In-sŏlv'ent, a.

adjective

a. [Prefix in, not, and solvent; Sp. insolvente.] (Law.) (a.) Not solvent; not having sufficient estate to pay one's debts; unable to pay one's debts as they fall due, in the ordinary course of trade and business; as, an insolvent debtor. (b.) Not sufficient to pay all the debts of the owner; as, an insolvent estate. (c.) Respecting persons unable to pay their debts; as, an insolvent law.

Insolvent law, or act of insolvency, a law affording relief,—subject to various modifications in different States,—to insolvent debtors, upon their delivering up their property for the benefit of their creditors. See BANKRUPT LAW.

In-sŏlv'ent, n.

noun

n. (Law.) One who is unable to pay his debts; one whose estate is insufficient to pay his debts; one who is in a condition of present inability to pay his debts in the ordinary course of business, as persons carrying on trade usually do;—in England especially applied to persons not traders. Bouvier.