Lewis & Short

dēbĕo (dehibeo, Plaut. Trin. 2, 4, 24 infra, cf. Ritschl, Opusc. Phil. 2, 590), ŭi, ĭtum, 2, v. a. [de-habeo], (lit., to have or keep from some one: "qui pecuniam dissolvit, statim non habet id quod reddidit, qui autem debet, aes retinet alienum," Cic. Planc. 28, 68 Wund.; hence), to owe (Gr. ὀφείλω; opp. reddo, solvo, dissolvo, persolvo, freq. and class.).

  1. I. Lit., of money and money’s worth.
        1. a. Act.,
          1. (α) with acc.: quas (drachmas) de ratione dehibuisti, Plaut. Trin. 2, 4, 24; cf. Ter. Heaut. 4, 5, 43: Mylasis et Alabandis pecuniam Cluvio debent, Cic. Fam. 13, 56; so, pecuniam alicui, id. ib. 13, 14 et saep.: qui dissolverem quae debeo, Ter. Ph. 4, 3, 51: appellatus es de pecunia, quam pro domo, pro hortis, pro sectione debebas, Cic. Phil. 2, 29, 71; so, grandem pecuniam, Sall. C. 49, 3: quadringenties HS. Cic. Phil. 2, 37: talenta CC, id. Att. 5, 21, 12: quadruplum, duplum, Quint. 7, 4, 44 et saep.
          2. (β) Without acc.: illis quibus debeo, Ter. Ph. 5, 7, 30: ut illi quam plurimi deberent, Sall. J. 96, 2: nec ipsi debeo, Quint. 4, 4, 6: Cal. Jan. debuit; adhuc non solvit, Cic. Att. 14, 18; Caes. B. C. 3, 20, 3 et saep.
            Part. pres. as subst.: debentes, ium, m., debtors, Liv. 6, 27, 3; cf. Sen. Ben. 1, 4, 5.
        2. b. Pass.: dum pecunia accipitur, quae mihi ex publica permutatione debetur, Cic. Fam. 3, 5, 4; id. Verr. 2, 3, 82; cf.: quam ad diem legioni frumentum deberi sciebat, Caes. B. G. 6, 33: a publicanis suae provinciae debitam biennii pecuniam exegerat, id. B. C. 3, 31; Quint. 5, 10, 117: quod si omnino non debetur? Quid? praetor solet judicare deberi? Cic. Q. Fr. 1, 2, 3, § 10; cf.: quaeretur an debeatur, Quint. 7, 1, 21 et saep.
          Hence,
          1. (β) Dēbĭ-tum, i, n., what is owing, a debt, Cic. Att. 13, 23 fin.: ne de bonis deminui paterentur priusquam Fundanio debitum solutum esset, id. Q. Fr. 1, 2, 3, § 10: tamquam debito fraudetur, id. Or. 53, 178: ex quibus unum haec epistula in debitum solvet, will pay a debt with one, Sen. Ep. 7, 10: reddere, to repay, Col. 10, pr. 1.
      1. 2. Prov.: animan debere, to be over head and ears in debt, Ter. Ph. 4, 3, 56 ("Graecum proverbium, καὶ αὐτὴν τὴν ψυχὴν ὀφείλει," Don.).
  2. II. Trop., to owe something, i. e. to be under obligation, both to and for something.
    1. A. To owe, i. e. to be bound or under obligation to render, pay, etc., something (for syn. cf.: necesse est, oportet, cogo, decet, opus est, par est, meum, tuum … alicujus est).
      1. 1. In gen.
        1. a. Act.
          1. (α) with acc.: ego hoc tibi pro servitio debeo, Ter. Andr. 4, 1, 51: quo etiam majorem ei res publica gratiam debet, Cic. Phil. 2, 11, 27; so, gratiam, Sall. J. 110; cf. no. b: videris patriae hoc munus debere, Cic. Leg. 1, 25: si fidem debet tutor, Quint. 5, 10, 73 (acc. to Cic. Top. 10, 42, si tutor fidem praestare debet); cf. no. b: dies longa videtur opus debentibus, Hor. Ep. 1, 1, 21: quos mundo debes oculos, Ov. M. 4, 197: debueram patriae poenas odiisque meorum, Verg. A. 10, 853; cf. Ov. M. 6, 538; id. F. 5, 648: juvenem nil jam caelestibus ullis debentem, Verg. A. 11, 51; cf. Sil. 15, 371: navis, quae tibi creditum Debes Vergilium finibus Atticis, Hor. Od. 1, 3, 6; Ov. M. 1, 481 sq.: Turnum debent haec jam mihi sacra, Verg. A. 12, 317 Wagn. N. cr.; cf. id. ib. 11, 179: isti tibi quid homines debent? i. e. what business have you with those men? Plaut. Trin. 4, 2, 51; cf. infra b fin.
          2. (β) With inf., to be bound, in duty bound to do something; I ought, must, should, etc., do it (in class. prose always in the sense of moral necessity; in the poets sometimes for necesse est): debetis velle quae velimus, Plaut. Am. prol. 39: num ferre contra patriam arma illi cum Coriolano debuerunt? Cic. Lael. 11: multo illa gravius aestimare debere, Caes. B. G. 7, 14 fin.: Africam forte Tubero obtinere debebat, id. B. C. 1, 30: debes hoc etiam rescribere, Hor. Ep. 1, 3, 30 et saep.: ut agri vastari, oppida expugnari non debuerint, Caes, B. G. 1, 11: summae se iniquitatis condemnari debere, si, etc., id. ib. 7, 19 fin.: scriptor … inter perfectos veteresque referri debet, etc., Hor. Ep. 2, 1, 37 (for which ib. 41: inter quos referendus erit? cf. also ultima semper Exspectanda dies homini; dicique beatus Ante obitum nemo debet, Ov. M. 3, 137): ut jam nunc dicat, jam nunc debentia dici, Hor. A. P. 43 et saep.
            Poet. for necesse est, oportet, it is necessary, it must needs (so almost everywhere in Lucret.): omnia debet enim cibus integrare novando et fulcire cibus, etc., Lucr. 2, 1146; 3, 188; 4, 61; 1, 232 Munro.
        2. b. Pass., to be due or owing: Veneri jam et Libero reliquum tempus deberi arbitrabatur, Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 11: quanta his (sc. dis) gratia debeatur, id. Fin. 3, 22, 73; id. Q. Fr. 1, 1, 9 fin.: honores non ex merito, sed quasi debitos repetere, Sall. J. 85, 37 et saep.: persolvant grates dignas et praemia reddant Debita! Verg. A. 2, 538: debita quam sulcis committas semina, id. G. 1, 223; Prop. 1, 6, 17; 2, 28, 60 (3, 26, 14 M.): debitae Nymphis opifex coronae, Hor. Od. 3, 27, 30: calentem debita sparges lacrima favillam, id. ib. 2, 6, 23; Prop. 3, 7, 9 (4, 6, 9 M.): soli mihi Pallas debetur, Verg. A. 10, 443 et saep.: quid tibi istic debetur? what business have you there? Plaut. Mil. 2, 5, 18; id. Truc. 2, 2, 8; id. Rud. 1, 1, 34; cf. supra, a
          1. (α) .
            Hence, Dēbĭtum, i, n., what is due, debt, duty, obligation (post-Aug. and rare): velut omni vitae debito liberatus, Curt. 10, 5, 3: nepotum nutriendorum, Val. Max. 2, 9, 1: non secundum gratiam, sed secundum debitum, Vulg. Rom. 4, 4; 1 Cor. 7, 3: solvere debito, to free from obligation, Sen. Ben. 6, 4, 1.
      2. 2. Poet. (esp. in Verg.) and in post-Aug. prose like the Gr. ὀφείλω and ὀφλισκάνω.
        1. a. To owe, i. e. to be bound or destined by fate or by nature (v. Lidd. and Scott sub. ὀφείλω, no. 3).
          1. (α) Act.. urbem et jam cerno Phrygios debere nepotes, i. e. are destined to found, Ov. M. 15, 444: debet multas hic legibus aevi (i. e. fato) Ante suam mortes, Luc. 2, 82; cf. id. 6, 530.
            More usually,
          2. (β) pass., to be due i. e. to be destined: cui regnum Italiae Romanaque tellus Debentur, Verg. A. 4, 276; cf. id. ib. 3, 184; 7, 120; 145: indigetem Aeneam scis Deberi caelo, id. ib. 12, 795: animae, quibus altera fato Corpora debentur, id. ib. 6, 714: sors ista senectae Debita erat nostrae, id. ib. 11, 166: fatis debitus Arruns, i. e. devoted to death, id. ib. 11, 759: dum bello Argolici vastabant Pergama reges Debita casurasque inimicis ignibus arces, id. ib. 8, 375 ("fataliter ad exitium destinata," Serv.); cf. so absol.: tempora Parcae debita complerant, id. ib. 9, 108: morbo naturae debitum reddiderunt, Nep. Reg. 1 fin.: DEBITVM NATVRAE PERSOLVIT, etc., Inscr. Orell. no. 3453; and simply DEBITVM PERSOLVIT, id. ib. no. 4482.
        2. b. So, because what one is destined by the fates to suffer is regarded as his debt (ὀφλισκάνειν γέλωτά τινι): tu nisi ventis debes ludibrium, cave, Hor. Od. 1, 14, 16.
    2. B. To owe something to some one, to be indebted to or to have to thank one for something.
          1. (α) With acc.: ut hoc summum beneficium Q. Maximo debuerim, Cic. de Or. 1, 26, 121; so magna beneficia mihi, Cael. ap. Cic. Fam. 8, 12; qui mihi laudem illam eo minus deberet, Cic. Att. 1, 14, 3: me paene plus tibi quam ipsi Miloni debiturum, id. Fam. 2, 6 fin.; cf. id. Planc. 28; and quantum cuique deberet, Nep. Epam. 3 fin.; Plin. Pan. 30, 1 et saep.: o cui debere salutem Confiteor, Ov. M. 7, 164; so vitam, id. Pont. 4, 5, 31; and in a like sense: se, id. M. 7, 48; 2, 644; so, in a bad sense, hoc quoque Tarquinio debebimus, id. Fast. 2, 825.
          2. (β) Absol., to be indebted, obliged, under obligation to one: verum fac me multis debere, et in iis Plancio, etc., Cic. Planc. 28; cf. with a clause: tibi nos debere fatemur, quod, etc., Ov. M. 4, 76.
    3. C. To continue to owe something; i. e. to withhold, keep back: quod praesenti tibi non tribueram, id absenti debere non potui, Cic. Fam. 7, 19, init.
      So pass.: sic enim diximus, et tibi hoc video non posse debere, id. Tusc. 2, 27, 67 fin.