DEBENTURE • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Debenture

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/dəbˈɛntʃər/ Listen

noun

Debenture n.

A writing acknowledging a debt; a writing or certificate signed by a public officer, as evidence of a debt due to some person; the sum thus due.

A customhouse certificate entitling an exporter of imported goods to a drawback of duties paid on their importation. Note: It is applied in England to deeds of mortgage given by railway companies for borrowed money; also to municipal and other bonds and securities for money loaned.

Any of various instruments issued, esp. by corporations, as evidences of debt. Such instruments (often called debenture bonds) are generally, through not necessarily, under seal, and are usually secured by a mortgage or other charge upon property; they may be registered or unregistered. A debenture secured by a mortgage on specific property is called a mortgage debenture; one secured by a floating charge (which see), a floating debenture; one not secured by any charge a naked debenture. In general the term debenture in British usage designates any security issued by companies other than their shares, including, therefore, what are in the United States commonly called bonds. When used in the United States debenture generally designates an instrument secured by a floating charge junior to other charges secured by fixed mortgages, or, specif., one of a series of securities secured by a group of securities held in trust for the benefit of the debenture holders.

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Etymology of 'Debenture'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Debenture" Quotes from Famous Books

... the managing director and general manager of Punsonby's. He held, or was supposed to hold, a third of the shares in that concern, shares which he had inherited from John Punsonby, his uncle, and the founder of the firm. He drew a princely salary and a substantial dividend, he was listed as a debenture holder and ...

— The Green Rust • Edgar Wallace

... DEBENTURE. A custom-house certificate given to the exporter of goods, on which a bounty or drawback is allowed. Also, a general term for ...

— The Sailor's Word-Book • William Henry Smyth

... the crisis of 1866, believed to be for a moment a hesitation in so doing. But these are only a small part of the securities on which money in ordinary times can be readily obtained, and by which its repayment is fully secured. Railway debenture stock is as good a security as a commercial bill, and many people, of whom I own I am one, think it safer than India stock; on the whole, a great railway is, we think, less liable to unforeseen accidents than the strange Empire of India. But I doubt if the Bank of England in a panic ...

— Lombard Street: A Description of the Money Market • Walter Bagehot

... Merthyr Company's metals into Brecon, while on the financial side, stocks and shares of the Mid-Wales were converted into stocks and shares of the Cambrian, and the arrears of interest on the Mid-Wales "B" debenture stock were capitalised into Cambrian "B" ...

— The Story of the Cambrian - A Biography of a Railway • C. P. Gasquoine

... guaranty, guarantee; gage, warranty, bond, tie, pledge, plight, mortgage, collateral, debenture, hypothecation, bill of sale, lien, pawn, pignoration[obs3]; real security; vadium[obs3]. stake, deposit, earnest, handsel, caution. promissory note; bill, bill of exchange; I.O.U.; personal security, covenant, specialty; parole &c. (promise) 768. acceptance, ...

— Roget's Thesaurus