From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Usury \U"su*ry\, n. [OE. usurie, usure, F. usure, L. usura use,
usury, interest, fr. uti, p. p. usus, to use. See {Use}, v.
t.]
[1913 Webster]
1. A premium or increase paid, or stipulated to be paid, for
a loan, as of money; interest. [Obs. or Archaic]
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Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury
of money, usury of victuals, usury of anything that
is lent upon usury. --Deut. xxiii.
19.
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Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the
exchanges, and then at my coming I should have
received mine own with usury. --Matt. xxv.
27.
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What he borrows from the ancients, he repays with
usury of ??is own. --Dryden.
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2. The practice of taking interest. [Obs.]
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Usury . . . bringeth the treasure of a realm or
state into a few ??nds. --Bacon.
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3. (Law) Interest in excess of a legal rate charged to a
borrower for the use of money.
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Note: The practice of requiring in repayment of money lent
anything more than the amount lent, was formerly
thought to be a great moral wrong, and the greater, the
more was taken. Now it is not deemed more wrong to take
pay for the use of money than for the use of a house,
or a horse, or any other property. But the lingering
influence of the former opinion, together with the fact
that the nature of money makes it easier for the lender
to oppress the borrower, has caused nearly all
Christian nations to fix by law the rate of
compensation for the use of money. Of late years,
however, the opinion that money should be borrowed and
repaid, or bought and sold, upon whatever terms the
parties should agree to, like any other property, has
gained ground everywhere. --Am. Cyc.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
usury
n 1: an exorbitant or unlawful rate of interest [syn: {usury},
{vigorish}]
2: the act of lending money at an exorbitant rate of interest
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