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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

2 entries under this word

Owe

Ōwe, v. t.

verbtransitive

(ō), v. t. [imp. & p. p. OWED; OUGHT (obs.); p. pr. & vb. n. OWING. Not used in the passive.] O. Eng. owen, awen, A-S. agan, O. Sax. egan, O. Fries. uga, O. H. Ger. eigan, Goth. áigan, Icel. eiga, Sw. äga, Dan. eie, to have or possess. 1. To possess; to have; to own. [Obs.] Thou dost here usurp The name thou ow'st not. Shak. 2. To be obliged or bound to pay. A son owes help and honor to his father. Holyday. The one ought five hundred pence, and the other fifty. Bible, 1551. He would rather have Antonio's flesh Than twenty times the value of the sum That he did owe him. Shak. 3. To be obliged to ascribe to; to be obliged for. By me upheld, that he may know how frail His fallen condition, and to me owe All his deliverance, and to none but me. Milton.

Ōwe, v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. 1. To be bound or obliged. [Obs.] Also ye owen to incline and bow your heart to take the patience of our Lord Jesus Christ, as saith Peter in his epis- tles. 2. To be due to; to be the consequence or result of. O, deem thy fall not ow'ed to man's decree. Pope.