Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To sell or offer for sale at a reduced price.
  • transitive verb To reduce in quantity or value.
  • transitive verb To deduct or subtract from a cost or price.
  • transitive verb To determine the present value of (a future payment or series of payments).
  • transitive verb To price (a bond or other debt security) at a reduction to its face value, especially in place of a coupon.
  • transitive verb To disregard or doubt (something) as being exaggerated or untrustworthy.
  • transitive verb To underestimate the significance or effectiveness of; minimize.
  • transitive verb To anticipate and make allowance for; reckon with in advance.
  • noun A reduction from the full or standard amount of a price or value.
  • noun The amount by which the face value of a bond or other debt security exceeds its market price.
  • adjective Offering products or services for sale at low or reduced prices.
  • adjective Sold or offered for sale at a low or reduced price.
  • adjective Reduced in quantity or value.
  • adjective Priced below face value, especially in place of a coupon.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To reckon off or deduct in settlement; make a reduction of: as, to discount 5 per cent. for cash payment of a bill.
  • To leave out of account; disregard.
  • In finance, to purchase, or pay the amount of in cash, less a certain rate per cent., as a promissory note, bill of exchange, etc., to be collected by the discounter or purchaser at maturity: as, to discount a bill or a claim at 7 per cent. Compare negotiate.
  • Hence To make a deduction from; put a reduced estimate or valuation upon; make an allowance for exaggeration or excess in: as, to discount a braggart's story; to discount an improbable piece of news.
  • To reckon or act upon in advance; diminish by anticipation the interest, pleasure, etc., of; take for granted as going to happen: as, to discount one's future prospects; to discount the pleasure of a journey.
  • In billiards, to allow discount to: as, to discount an inferior player. See discount, n., 4.
  • noun An allowance or deduction, generally of so much per cent., made for prepayment or for prompt payment of a bill or account; a sum deducted, in consideration of cash payment, from the price of a thing usually sold on credit; any deduction from the customary price, or from a sum due or to be due at a future time.
  • noun In finance, the rate per cent. deducted from the face value of a promissory note, bill of exchange, etc., when purchasing the privilege of collecting its amount at maturity.
  • noun The act of discounting: as, a note is lodged in the bank for discount; the banks have suspended discounts.
  • noun In billiards, an allowance made by a superior to an inferior player of a deduction of one count from his string for every count made by the latter.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To deduct from an account, debt, charge, and the like; to make an abatement of.
  • transitive verb To lend money upon, deducting the discount or allowance for interest.
  • transitive verb To take into consideration beforehand; to anticipate and form conclusions concerning (an event).
  • transitive verb rare To leave out of account; to take no notice of.
  • noun A counting off or deduction made from a gross sum on any account whatever; an allowance upon an account, debt, demand, price asked, and the like; something taken or deducted.
  • noun A deduction made for interest, in advancing money upon, or purchasing, a bill or note not due; payment in advance of interest upon money.
  • noun The rate of interest charged in discounting.
  • noun below par, or below the nominal value; hence, colloquially, out of favor; poorly esteemed; depreciated.
  • noun a sum equal to the interest at a given rate on the principal (face) of a bill or note from the time of discounting until it become due.
  • noun one who makes a business of discounting commercial paper; a bill broker.
  • noun a particular day of the week when a bank discounts bills.
  • noun the interest which, added to a principal, will equal the face of a note when it becomes due. The principal yielding this interest is the present value of the note.
  • intransitive verb To lend, or make a practice of lending, money, abating the discount.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To deduct from an account, debt, charge, and the like; to make an abatement of; as, merchants sometimes discount five or six per cent for prompt payment of bills.
  • verb To lend money upon, deducting the discount or allowance for interest; as, the banks discount notes and bills of exchange.
  • verb To take into consideration beforehand; to anticipate and form conclusions concerning (an event).
  • verb To leave out of account; to take no notice of.
  • verb To lend, or make a practice of lending, money, abating the discount; as, the discount for sixty or ninety days.
  • noun A reduction in price.
  • noun A deduction made for interest, in advancing money upon, or purchasing, a bill or note not due; payment in advance of interest upon money.
  • noun The rate of interest charged in discounting.
  • adjective Of goods, available at reduced prices; discounted.
  • adjective Of a store, specializing in goods at reduced prices.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Alteration (influenced by dis– and count) of French décompter, from Old French desconter : des-, away; see dis– + conter, to count; see count.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Alteration of French décompte, from Old French disconter, desconter ("reckon off, account back, discount"), from Medieval Latin discomputare ("to deduct, discount"), from Latin dis ("away") + computare ("to reckon, count").

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