Usaunce

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An old term for a established practice or habitual custom ; the interest or usury charged for borrowing money ; the fixed period of time granted before a foreign bill of exchange must be paid
2. A long-standing habit or accepted way of doing things ; the payment levied for the use of borrowed funds ; the set interval allowed before a foreign bill of exchange falls due
3. Archaically, a customary practice or tradition ; money paid as interest on a loan ; the time permitted for settling a bill of exchange drawn between countries

Etymology: "Usaunce" is an older spelling of "usance," and the two forms trace back to the same Old French word, "usance," meaning use, custom or habitual practice. The French word came from the verb "user," to use, which had itself grown out of Latin "usus," the past participle of "uti," to use. English took the word in from Old French during the Middle Ages, when it carried the sense of an established way of doing things rather than any single act of employing something. The noun's core meaning stayed close to that original idea of habit. Over time, though, "usance" acquired a specialised commercial sense in English, referring to the period allowed for payment on bills of exchange, which was fixed by long-standing trading custom. Because the term was so tied to accepted practice, it is easy to see how the general meaning of customary usage and the later financial meaning grew from the same root.