# مدين - دائن



## yusufadam

I am having trouble understanding the meaning of مدين which means debtor (one who owes).

Its root is *دان *which means to borrow, so *مدين *should mean someone borrowed from and therefore, being إسم مفعول , he is owed.


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## cherine

You got most of it right.
The verb دان is to borrow (although the verb اقترض is more common).
دائن The lender/creditor is 
مدين The indebted (but it doesn't mean he's owed, but he is "owing" money to someone)

I don't understand what you mean by this


yusufadam said:


> I am having trouble understanding the meaning of مدين which means debtor (one who owes).


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## cherine

Right. The one giving the money is daa2in دائن and the one receiving it is madiin مدين .
For example:
أنا مدينة لك بعشر جنيهات
ana madiina laka bi3ashri junayhaat
I owe you 10 pounds.


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## yusufadam

Thanks for making that clear. I thought مدين means someone from whom money (or anything) is borrowed but it actually means someone who received the borrowed money so he owes. Right?


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## yusufadam

Sorry for being a pain. 

دان means to borrow so دائن  means one who borrows so how is he a creditor?


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## cherine

Not a pain at all. 
I'm not sure about the verb itself as it is, as I said above, not commonly used. The verb commonly used for to borrow is اقترض and to lend is أَقْرَض .
But if we use the noun or maSdar "dayn" دين (debt) as a base, it will become more obvious why daa2in is the borrower not the lender:
دائن follows the pattern فاعل while مدين is مفعول .

If it's still confusing, please don't hesitate in asking.


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## yusufadam

دائن means borrower (someone who received money) so is he not a debtor? If I borrow money from my bank I am a debtor?


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## cherine

دائن means lender or creditor, if you borrow money from your bank the bank is your دائن and you are مَدين للبنك .


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## yusufadam

cherine said:


> Not a pain at all.
> I'm not sure about the verb itself as it is, as I said above, not commonly used. The verb commonly used for to borrow is اقترض and to lend is أَقْرَض .
> But if we use the noun or maSdar "dayn" دين (debt) as a base, it will become more obvious why daa2in is the borrower not the lender:
> دائن follows the pattern فاعل while مدين is مفعول .
> 
> If it's still confusing, please don't hesitate in asking.


Sorry, but you said دائن  is the the borrower not lender.


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## be.010

Straight and simple:
مدين is the اسم مفعول, meaning debtor (typically مديون)
دائن is the اسم فاعل, meaning creditor
The verb we use for "to borrow" is استدان (or اقترض)... 
Whereas ديّن  (or أقرض) means to lend money...
دان is not commonly used in the terminology of accounting, yet liguistically it _sounds_ closer to the creditors side, i.e. _to lend_.


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## cherine

yusufadam said:


> Sorry, but you said دائن  is the the borrower not lender.


Sorry, that was a very stupid mistake!  I corrected it.
A daa2in is a lender or creditor. He is the person giving money or credit.


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## Mahaodeh

yusufadam said:


> Sorry for being a pain.
> 
> دان means to borrow so دائن means one who borrows so how is he a creditor?


 
Not exactly; دان means 'to lend' not 'to borrow'. You would say, دان عمروٌ زيدًا = Amr lent zaid [money]. استدان عمروٌ من زيد = amr had zaid lend him [money] = amr borrowed money from zaid.

Hence, ism al-faa3l is the lender and ism al-maf3oul is the borrower (literally, the 'lendee' or the 'lent person' if there is such a word ).


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## yusufadam

Mahaodeh said:


> Not exactly; دان means 'to lend' not 'to borrow'. You would say, دان عمروٌ زيدًا = Amr lent zaid [money]. استدان عمروٌ من زيد = amr had zaid lend him [money] = amr borrowed money from zaid.
> 
> Hence, ism al-faa3l is the lender and ism al-maf3oul is the borrower (literally, the 'lendee' or the 'lent person' if there is such a word ).


Yes that makes sense.


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## TryingToSwallowHansWehr

In a nutshell, am I right to assume:

أستدان - I borrow
أدين - I lend

دائن - lender
مدين - borrower

And I could also use أقترض instead of أدين, to mean _I lend_?


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## yusufadam

Mahaodeh said:


> Not exactly; دان means 'to lend' not 'to borrow'. You would say, دان عمروٌ زيدًا = Amr lent zaid [money]. استدان عمروٌ من زيد = amr had zaid lend him [money] = amr borrowed money from zaid.
> 
> Hence, ism al-faa3l is the lender and ism al-maf3oul is the borrower (literally, the 'lendee' or the 'lent person' if there is such a word ).


But why do the dictionaries state دان  means to borrow?:

http://www.verbace.com/dicthome.htm


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## cherine

TryingToSwallowHansWehr said:


> In a nutshell, am I right to assume:
> 
> أستدين - I borrow (astadiin)
> أدين - I lend (not sure about this one)
> 
> دائن - lender
> مدين - borrower
> And I could also use أقترض instead of أدين, to mean _I lend_?


aqtariD أقترض means I borrow. UqriD أقرض means to lend.
The verb أدين means to condemn.
Although Maha's post is perfect, I have to say that I never saw دان used in the meaning of "to lend", so I suggest you better use أستدين or أقترض for "I borrow" and أقرض for "to lend".



yusufadam said:


> But why do the dictionaries state دان means to borrow?:
> 
> http://www.verbace.com/dicthome.htm


I really don't know. But it gives دان as only the third possibility after استدان and اقترض .


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## TryingToSwallowHansWehr

Thanks, cherine. Is it استدان in the past tense and أستدين in the present?

And to recap, I lend is أُقرض, but in doing so I become a داأن. When I borrow I am أقترض, whilst being known as a مدين. OK...thank you!


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## be.010

TryingToSwallowHansWehr said:


> Thanks, cherine. Is it استدان in the past tense and أستدين in the present?
> 
> And to recap, I lend is أُقرض, but in doing so I become a *دائن*. When I borrow I am أقترض, whilst being known as a مدين. OK...thank you!


Hi!
استدان is the third person male singular past. i.e. he borrowed. Present = يستدين
أستدين is the first person singular present. (I borrow). Past = استدنت (i)stadant(u).


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## Mahaodeh

cherine said:


> Although Maha's post is perfect, I have to say that I never saw دان used in the meaning of "to lend", so I suggest you better use أستدين or أقترض for "I borrow" and أقرض for "to lend".


 
I agree with you, دان is rarely used in this sense but it has a lot of other meanings that are much more commonly used.

----

As for why Dictionaries list it as borrow, well, I don't know. But when I looked up the Lisaan I found it says:

دِنْتُ الرجل: أقرضته، فهو مَدين ومديون. قال ابن سيده: دِنْتُ الرجل وأدنته أعطيته الدَيْن. قال الجوهري: رجل مديون، كثر ما عليه من الدَيْن

However, he later says (a couple of paragraphs later):

ودانَ، أخذ الدين
.
.
.
ودنته: أعطيته الدين. ودنته: استقرضت منه. ودان فلان: استقرض وصار عليه دين

So just a guess, I think it's avoided for this meaning because it includes both meanings: to borrow and to lend (which I didn't know until I looked it up just now!)


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## TryingToSwallowHansWehr

Thanks, be.010. Apologies for the typo with دائن.


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