debenture

Meanings

1. A certificate that certifies an amount of money owed to someone; a certificate of indebtedness.
2. A certificate of a loan made to the government; a government bond.
3. A type of debt instrument secured only by the general credit or promise to pay of the issuer, not involving any physical assets or collateral, now commonly issued by large, well established corporations with adequate credit ratings.
4. A document granting lenders a charge over a borrower’s physical assets, giving them a means to collect a debt, as part of a secured loan.

Etymology

From earlier debentur, from Latin debentur (“they are owing”), supposedly the first word of such a document in early times. The ending was apparently influenced by words in -(t)ure.