1. An amount of money, a service, or an item of property that is owed to someone; an obligation to pay or to do something.
2. Something owed; such as, money, goods, or services; including an obligation or liability to pay or render something to someone else.
3. Etymology: from about 1290, from Old French dete, which came from Latin debitam, "thing owed", past participle of debere, "to owe"; originally, "to keep something away from someone"; derived from de-, "away from" + habere, "to have".