What is "usury"

Usury \U"su*ry\, n. [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 ??is own.
   --Dryden.

2. The practice of taking interest. [Obs.]

   Usury . . . bringeth the treasure of a realm or state into a few ??nds.
   --Bacon.

3. (Law) 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.

c.1300, "practice of lending money at interest," later, at excessive rates of interest, from Medieval Latin usuria, alteration of Latin usura "payment for the use of money, interest," literally "a usage, use, enjoyment," from usus, from stem of uti (see use (v.)). From mid-15c. as "premium paid for the use of money, interest," especially "exorbitant interest."

n. 1 (context countable English) An exorbitant rate of interest, in excess of any legal rates or at least immorally. 2 (context uncountable English) The practice of lending money at such rates. 3 (context uncountable archaic English) The practice of lending money at interest.

1. n. an exorbitant or unlawful rate of interest [syn: vigorish]

2. the act of lending money at an exorbitant rate of interest

Usury is, as defined today, the practice of making unethical or immoral monetary loans that unfairly enrich the lender. Originally, usury meant interest of any kind. A loan may be considered usurious because of excessive or abusive interest rates or other factors. Historically in Christian societies, and still in many Islamic societies today, charging any interest at all can be considered usury. Someone who practices usury can be called a usurer, but a more common term in contemporary English is loan shark.

The term may be used in a moral sense—condemning, taking advantage of others' misfortunes—or in a legal sense where interest rates may be regulated by law. Historically, some cultures (e.g., Christianity in much of Medieval Europe, and Islam in many parts of the world today) have regarded charging any interest for loans as sinful.

Some of the earliest known condemnations of usury come from the Vedic texts of India. Similar condemnations are found in religious texts from Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (the term is riba in Arabic and ribbit in Hebrew). At times, many nations from ancient China to ancient Greece to ancient Rome have outlawed loans with any interest. Though the Roman Empire eventually allowed loans with carefully restricted interest rates, the Christian church in medieval Europe banned the charging of interest at any rate (as well as charging a fee for the use of money, such as at a bureau de change).

Public speaker Charles Eisenstein has argued that in the English-speaking world seems to have come with lawful rights to charge interest on lent money, particularly the 1545 Act, "An Act Against Usurie" ( 37 H. viii 9) of King Henry VIII of England.