lend

Etymology 1

From earlier len (with excrescent -d, as in sound, round, etc.), 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”), 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.

verb

1. (transitive) To allow to be used by someone temporarily, on condition that it or its equivalent will be returned.
   I will only lend you my car if you fill up the tank.
   I lent her 10 euros to pay for the train tickets, and she paid me back the next day.
   Finance is seldom romantic. But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close. This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms. Those that want to borrow are matched with those that want to lend. 2013-06-01, “End of the peer show”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 71
2. (intransitive) To make a loan.
3. (reflexive) To be suitable or applicable, to fit.
   Poems do not lend themselves to translation easily.
   The long history of the past does not lend itself to a simple black and white interpretation.
4. To afford; to grant or furnish in general.
   Can you lend me some assistance?
   The famous director lent his name to the new film.
   Mountain lines and distant horizons lend space and largeness to his compositions. 1886, John Addington Symonds, Sir Philip Sidney
   FORSEA absolutely condemns the political manipulation on the part of the junta, General Prayuth, the Thai Senate and the parties that lent their support for General Prayuth that led him to parliamentary victory. 2019-06-08, “Condemning the return to premiership of General Prayuth Chan-ocha through a manipulative method”, in forsea.co, FORSEA, retrieved 2019-06-09
5. (proscribed) To borrow.

noun

1. (chiefly dialectal, with "the") Loan (permission to borrow (something)).
   “But,” says Arthur, “I wouldn't be proud of your clothes, / For you've only the lend of them, as I suppose.” c. 1800s, Arthur McBride, version from 2012, Dick Sheridan, Irish Songs for Ukulele (Songbook), Hal Leonard Corporation
   Yesterday asked Mr. Aray the lend of 8s. 6d. for a month. 1866, Walkden, Diary, 6
   However, Weldon would soon note his declining potato yield, and his suspicions were confirmed one night when he confronted Joe with a jumper full of spuds. Somehow, Joe managed to talk his way out of trouble. 'I told him I was getting the lend of them,' Joe laughed. It wasn't only vegetables that were targeted, though. For generations of children who grew up on ... 2008, Ronan Casey, Joe Dolan: The Official Biography, Penguin UK
   Our thanks go to Diran Adebayo for his support, especially his lend of Everything You're Told Is True, to the website. It has been an honour to host […] 2010, One Million Stories Creative Writing Project 2009 Anthology, page 10
   “Give these to your dad, Betsy, tell him thanks for the lend of them. I'm leaving next week, Betsy.” “Really, where are you going?” Betsy played dumb. 2016, Mary Peters, Betsy, The Coalminer's Daughter, New Generation Publishing

Etymology 2

From Middle English lende (usually in plural as lendes, leendes, lyndes), from Old English lendenu, lendinu pl (“loins”), from Proto-Germanic *landijō, *landį̄ (“loin”), from Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- (“loin, kidney”). Cognate with Scots lend, leynd (“the loins, flank, buttocks”), Dutch lendenen (“loins, reins”), German Lenden (“loins”), Swedish länder (“loins”), Icelandic lendar (“loins”), Latin lumbus (“loin”), Russian ля́двея (ljádveja, “thigh, haunch”).

noun

1. (anatomy, UK dialectal) The lumbar region; loin.
2. (UK dialectal, of a person or animal) The loins; flank; buttocks.