debit

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French debet, from Latin debitum (“what is owed, a debt”), neuter of debitus, past participle of debere (“to owe”); Doublet of debt.

noun

1. In bookkeeping, an entry in the left hand column of an account.
   A cash sale is recorded as debit on the cash account and as credit on the sales account.
2. A sum of money taken out of a bank account. Thus called, because in bank's bookkeeping a cash withdrawal diminishes the amount of money held on the account, i.e. bank's debt to the customer.

verb

1. To make an entry on the debit side of an account.
   The economist also observed that some of the Victoria Line's cost should be debited to existing lines, as they would benefit from the rebuilding of their interchange stations with the new tube. 1962 October, “The Victoria Line”, in Modern Railways, page 217
2. To record a receivable in the bookkeeping.
   We shall debit your account for the amount of the purchase.
   We shall debit the amount of your purchase to your account.

adj

1. of or relating to process of taking money from an account
2. of or relating to the debit card function of a debit card rather than its often available credit card function