"Imprest" and "Debenture"

*Imprest* is derived from the Italian *imprestare*, to lend, which is *im-præstare*, (Fr. *prêter*). *Debentur*, or *Debenture* (Lat. *debeo*), was originally a Customhouse term, meaning a certificate or ticket presented by an exporter, when a drawback or bounty was allowed on certain exported goods. Hence it seems to mean a certificate acknowledging a debt, and promising payment at a specified time on the presentation of the certificate. Debentures are thus issued by railway companies when they borrow money, and the certificates for annual interest which accompany them are, so to speak, *sub-…