arrears
/əˈrɪəz
/plural noun
Money that is owed and should have been paid earlier: he was suing the lessee for the arrears of rent mortgage arrears...
- The accountants may not withdraw from the court until all debts and arrears are fully paid.
- Reducing arrears means more money for services and housing improvements.
- He's fallen into arrears, and the mortgage company is repossessing it on Monday.
Synonyms
money owing, outstanding payment(s), debt(s), liabilities, indebtedness, dues;
balance, deficit
Phrases
in arrears
Derivatives
arrearage
/ noun ...- When Chen brought the company to the arbitration court last year, he collected about 360,000 yuan of salary arrearages.
- There are technical and legal issues with that case where it went from an overpayment to an arrearage.
- Riddick, his wife and their three children have fallen from the middle class to homelessness because he is forced to pay $1, 400 a month in child support and arrearages.
Origin
Middle English (first used in the phrase in arrear): from arrear (adverb) 'behind, overdue', from Old French arere, from medieval Latin adretro, from ad- 'towards' + retro 'backwards'.