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What is Usury?

Usury (from the Latin "usus" meaning "used" ) was defined originally as charging a fee for the use of money. This usually meant interest on loans, although charging a fee for changing money (as at a Bureau de Change) is included in the original meaning. During the 13 th century in Europe , the idea became common that a monetary penalty could be charged to a borrower if he was late in repaying a loan that was otherwise interest-free. This charge was in respect of the period in between the date on which the lender should have repaid the loan and the date on which it was actually repaid. It was a charge for the period "that is in between", in Latin "inter esse". Subsequently the term interest was developed and practised from the very outset of a loan, not only in the case of late repayment. By the twentieth century, the charging of interest was no longer an offence in England , and the word "usury" was reserved to describe high rates of interest. However, the threshold between interest and usury was no longer defined formally under the law.