debt
n. C / Un. money that you owe to a person, bank, or company. It can also mean a feeling of needing to do something for someone because they helped you.
n. a sum of money that is owed or due to be paid. It may also refer to a state of obligation or gratitude toward someone for a service or favour rendered.
He is working hard to pay off his credit card debt.
After the business failed, the owners were left with a significant debt that took years to repay.
While the financial debt was eventually settled through a structured repayment plan, the moral debt he felt toward his mentor remained a lifelong burden.
From Middle English dette, dett, borrowed from Old French dete (French dette), from Medieval Latin dēbita, from Latin dēbitum (“what is owed, a debt, a duty”), neuter of dēbitus, perfect passive participle of dēbeō (“to owe”), contraction of *dehibeō (“I have from”), from de (“from”) + habeō (“to have”). Doublet of debit. The unpronounced "b" in the modern English spelling is a Latinisation from the Latin etymon dēbitum.
Countable when referring to specific sums of money; uncountable when referring to the general state of owing money.
he has many debts of gratitudehe has a deep debt of gratitudeWhen used metaphorically for gratitude, the word is typically treated as uncountable or used in the singular.