Emily Dickinson Lexicon

OWE, v.t. [pron. o.; a regular verb, pret. and pp. owed; used with the auxiliary have, had, but not with the substantive verb to be. This verb is doubtless the Sax. agan, Goth. aigan, Sw. äga, Ice. eg, to have or possess, that is, to hold or retain, coinciding with the Gr. εχω. The Sax. participle agen, Dan. egen, is the English own. Ought is a derivative tense, and was formerly used in the sense of owed. The proper sense of owe, is to be held or bound to pay; nearly us we now use have in the phrases, “I have to pay a sum of money to-morrow,” “I have to go to town to-day.”]

1. To be indebted; to be obliged or bound to pay. The merchants owe a large sum to foreigners. A son owes help and honor to his father. Holyday. One was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. Matth. xviii. Owe no man any thing, but to love one another. Rom. xiii.
2. To be obliged to ascribe to; to be obliged for; as, that he may owe to me all his deliverance. Milton.
3. To possess; to have; to be the owner of. [This is the original sense, but now obsolete. In place of it, we use own, from the participle. See Own.] Thou dost here usurp / The name thou owest not. Shak.
4. To be due or owing. O deem thy fall not ow'd to man's decree. Pope. [This passive form is not now used.]