Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A very small, often short-term loan made to an impoverished entrepreneur, as in an underdeveloped country.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun banking A small
loan , especially one extended to a poor person as part of amicrocredit program of such lending intended to alleviate poverty.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
micro- + loan
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Examples
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dhuber commented on the word microloan
I love this word because it signifies a unique and seemingly effective method of making this world a better place.
See www.kiva.org, for instance.
September 27, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word microloan
I'm a big fan of kiva! That's why I was surprised no one had listed microfinance. :)
September 27, 2008
jennarenn commented on the word microloan
I initially heard about Kiva from a guy who worked for a different microloan nonprofit in DC. It's encouraging to see the # of repaid loans vs. the # of defaulted loans. The overwhelming majority of these folks make good, which is more than the average American can say.
September 27, 2008
reesetee commented on the word microloan
Ditto, c_b. There's also FINCA. :-)
September 29, 2008