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Webster 1913 Edition


Usance

Us′ance

,
Noun.
[F. See
Use
,
Verb.
T.
]
1.
Use; usage; employment.
[Obs.]
Spenser.
2.
Custom; practice; usage.
[Obs.]
Gower. Chaucer.
3.
Interest paid for money; usury.
[Obs.]
Shak.
4.
(Com.)
The time, fixed variously by the usage between different countries, when a bill of exchange is payable;
as, a bill drawn on London at one
usance
, or at double
usance
.

Webster 1828 Edition


Usance

U'SANCE

,
Noun.
s as z.
1.
Use; proper employment.
2.
Usury; interest paid for money.
3.
In commerce, a determinate time fixed for the payment of bills of exchange, reckoned either from the day of their date, or the day of their acceptance. It is thus called because this time is settled by usage, or the custom of places on which the bills are drawn. In France, the usance for bills drawn from Spain and Portugal, is sixty days. At London, the usance for bills drawn from Holland, Germany or France is one month. The usance is very different in different countries and cities.