Usury
Definition
Excessive interest, usury, or illicit profit made by financially exploiting a borrower; a term of Ottoman origin formerly used in the Romanian Principalities to denote abusive profit obtained from speculation or from breaching legal economic agreements. In an extended sense, it represents a burdensome tax or a debt accummulated abusively due to huge penalties.
Bilingual Equivalents
- Usury
- Exorbitant interest
Grammatical & Source Details
| Inflection Type | Neuter noun, plural forms standardized under regular technical rules as 'aslamuri'. |
| Formation | Borrowed during the Phanariot period from Ottoman Turkish (aslam), utilized in commercial legal disputes. |
| Spelling / Pronunciation | [as.ˈlam] |
| Source | Glossary of Historical and Jurisprudential Documents of Wallachia |
Contextual Usage Examples
RO: Domnitorul a dat un hrisov prin care interzicea neustorilor să mai ceară aslam de la țăranii îndatorați.
EN: The ruler issued a charter forbidding merchants from demanding usury from the indebted peasants.
RO: Suma inițială împrumutată crescuse din cauza unui aslam nemilos, aducându-l pe boier în pragul falimentului.
EN: The initial borrowed sum had grown because of a merciless usury, bringing the boyar to the brink of bankruptcy.
RO: În pravilele vechi bisericești, luarea de aslam era privită ca un păcat grav și se pedepsea cu excluderea din comunitate.
EN: In old church laws, taking exorbitant interest was viewed as a grave sin and was punished by exclusion from the community.
Idioms & Phrases
A lua cu aslam / To loan with excessive interest
RO: Expresie veche ce înseamnă a împrumuta bani în condiții extrem de grele și cu clauze cămătărești abuzive.
EN: An old expression meaning to lend or borrow money under extremely harsh and abusive usurious terms.
Aslam domnesc / Princely penalty tariff
RO: Taxă suplimentară percepută de vistieria țării pentru întârzierea plății dărilor către divan.
EN: An additional fee collected by the country's treasury for delaying the payment of dues to the divan.
Fără aslam și vicleșug / Without usury or deceit
RO: Formulă juridică utilizată în contractele comerciale vechi pentru a garanta corectitudinea tranzacției.
EN: A legal formula used in old commercial contracts to guarantee the absolute fairness of the transaction.
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