bankrupt

Meanings

Adjective

• In a condition of bankruptcy; unable to pay one's debts.
• Having been legally declared insolvent.
• Destitute of, or wholly lacking (something once possessed, or something one should possess).

Verb

• To force into bankruptcy.

Noun

• One who becomes unable to pay his or her debts; an insolvent person.
• A trader who secretes himself, or does certain other acts tending to defraud his creditors.

Origin

• From Italian banca rotto, which refers to an out-of-business bank, having its bench physically broken. When a moneylender in Northern Italy became insolvent, they would break the bench they worked from to signify that they were no longer in business.