transitive verb, intransitive verb

1. to take or receive (something) with the understanding that one will return it or an equivalent
2. to adopt or take over (something) as one's own to borrow a theory
3. to adopt and naturalize (a word, etc.) from another language the word depot was borrowed from French
4. Arith. in subtraction, to take (a unit of ten) from the next higher place in the minuend and add it to the next lower place: done when the number to be subtracted in the subtrahend is greater than the corresponding number in the minuend

Etymology: ME borwen < OE borgian, to borrow, lend, be surety for, akin to beorgan, to protect & borough