USURIES
Noun
usuries
plural of usury
Source: Wiktionary
USURY
U"su*ry, n. Etym: [OE. usurie, usure, F. usure, L. usura use, usury,
interest, fr. uti, p. p. usus, to use. See Use, v. t.]
1. A premium or increase paid, or stipulated to be paid, for a loan,
as of money; interest. [Obs. or Archaic]
Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury
of victuals, usury of anything that is lent upon usury. Deut. xxiii.
19.
Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchanges, and
then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Matt.
xxv. 27.
What he borrows from the ancients, he repays with usury of Dryden.
2. The practice of taking interest. [Obs.]
Usury . . . bringeth the treasure of a realm or state into a few
Bacon.
3. (Law)
Definition: Interest in excess of a legal rate charged to a borrower for
the use of money.
Note: The practice of requiring in repayment of money lent anything
more than the amount lent, was formerly thought to be a great moral
wrong, and the greater, the more was taken. Now it is not deemed more
wrong to take pay for the use of money than for the use of a house,
or a horse, or any other property. But the lingering influence of the
former opinion, together with the fact that the nature of money makes
it easier for the lender to oppress the borrower, has caused nearly
all Christian nations to fix by law the rate of compensation for the
use of money. Of late years, however, the opinion that money should
be borrowed and repaid, or bought and sold, upon whatever terms the
parties should agree to, like any other property, has gained ground
everywhere. Am. Cyc.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition