Vocabulary

1. debenture- de·ben·ture (d-bnchr)

n.

1. A certificate or voucher acknowledging a debt.

2. An unsecured bond issued by a civil or governmental corporation or agency and backed only by the credit standing of the issuer.

3. A customhouse certificate providing for the payment of a drawback.

---

[Middle English debentur, from Latin dbentur, they are due (probably the first word appearing on certificates of indebtedness), third person pl. passive of dbre, to owe; see ghabh- in Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms

Noun	1.	debenture - the ability of a customer to obtain goods or services before payment, based on the trust that payment will be made in the future debenture bond, unsecured bond bond certificate, bond - a certificate of debt (usually interest-bearing or discounted) that is issued by a government or corporation in order to raise money; the issuer is required to pay a fixed sum annually until maturity and then a fixed sum to repay the principal
	2.	Mam·e·luke (mm-lk) n. A member of a former military caste, originally composed of slaves from Turkey, that held the Egyptian throne from about 1250 until 1517 and remained powerful until 1811. [French mameluk, from Arabic mamlk, slave, Mameluke, passive participle of malaka, to possess; see mlk in Semitic roots.]