Loan vs. Bond — What's the Difference?

Direct Borrowing.

Debt Securities.

Immediate Capital.

Market Value Fluctuation.

Collateral Requirement.

Capital Raising.

Negotiated Terms.

Fixed Coupon Rate.

Interest Variability.

Investor Returns.

In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that debt until it is repaid as well as to repay the principal amount borrowed.

Something, such as a fetter, cord, or band, that binds, ties, or fastens things together.

An instance of lending

Often bonds Confinement in prison; captivity.

A sum of money that is lent, usually with an interest fee

A uniting force or relationship; a link

The agreement or contract specifying the terms and conditions of the repayment of such a sum.

A binding agreement; a covenant.

The repayment obligation associated with such an agreement

A duty, promise, or other obligation by which one is bound.

The right to payment associated with such an agreement

A substance or agent that causes two or more objects or parts to cohere.

The state of being lent for temporary use

The union or cohesion brought about by such a substance or agent.

To lend (money or property).

A chemical bond.

An act or instance of lending, an act or instance of granting something for temporary use.

A systematically overlapping or alternating arrangement of bricks or stones in a wall, designed to increase strength and stability.

A sum of money or other property that a natural or legal person borrows from another with the condition that it be returned or repaid over time or at a later date (sometimes with interest).

A written obligation requiring the payment of a sum at a certain time.

The contract and array of legal or ethical obligations surrounding a loan.

A debt security obligating a government or corporation to pay a specified amount on a future date, especially a marketable security that makes semiannual interest payments.

The permission to borrow any item.

A guarantee issued by a surety agency on behalf of a client, requiring the surety to pay a sum of money to a third party in the event the client fails to fulfill certain obligations; a surety bond.

(Scotland) A lonnen.

A sum pledged as a guarantee.

To lend (something) to (someone).

A sum paid as a guarantee of a person's appearance at court for trial; bail

A loanin.

The condition of being held under the guarantee of a customs bond

The act of lending; a lending; permission to use; as, the loan of a book, money, services.

An insurance contract that indemnifies an employer for loss resulting from a fraudulent or dishonest act by an employee; a fidelity bond.

That which one lends or borrows, especially a sum of money lent at interest; as, he repaid the loan.

Bond paper.

To lend; - sometimes with out.

To join securely, as with glue or cement.

The temporary provision of money (usually at interest)

To join (two or more individuals) in a relationship, as by shared belief or experience

A word borrowed from another language; e.g. `blitz' is a German word borrowed into modern English

To finance by issuing bonds

Give temporarily; let have for a limited time;

To raise by issuing bonds

To gain the release of (someone who has been arrested) by providing a bail bond

To issue a surety bond or a fidelity bond for.

To lay (bricks or stones) in an overlapping or alternating pattern.

To cohere with a bond.

To form a close personal relationship.

To secure release from prison by providing a bail bond

(legal) Evidence of a long-term debt, by which the bond issuer (the borrower) is obliged to pay interest when due, and repay the principal at maturity, as specified on the face of the bond certificate. The rights of the holder are specified in the bond indenture, which contains the legal terms and conditions under which the bond was issued. Bonds are available in two forms: registered bonds, and bearer bonds.

(finance) A documentary obligation to pay a sum or to perform a contract; a debenture.

A partial payment made to show a provider that the customer is sincere about buying a product or a service. If the product or service is not purchased the customer then forfeits the bond.

A physical connection which binds, a band.

An emotional link, connection or union; that which holds two or more people together, as in a friendship; a tie.

Moral or political duty or obligation.

(chemistry) A link or force between neighbouring atoms in a molecule.

A binding agreement, a covenant.

A bail bond.

Any constraining or cementing force or material.

(construction) In building, a specific pattern of bricklaying, based on overlapping rows or layers to give strength.

(Scotland) A mortgage.

(railways) A heavy copper wire or rod connecting adjacent rails of an electric railway track when used as a part of the electric circuit.

A peasant; churl.

A vassal; serf; one held in bondage to a superior.

(transitive) To connect, secure or tie with a bond; to bind.

(transitive) To cause to adhere (one material with another).

To form a chemical compound with.

(transitive) To guarantee or secure a financial risk.

To form a friendship or emotional connection.

(transitive) To put in a bonded warehouse; to secure (goods) until the associated duties are paid.

To lay bricks in a specific pattern.

To make a reliable electrical connection between two conductors (or any pieces of metal that may potentially become conductors).

To bail out by means of a bail bond.

Subject to the tenure called bondage.

In a state of servitude or slavedom; not free.

Servile; slavish; pertaining to or befitting a slave.

That which binds, ties, fastens, or confines, or by which anything is fastened or bound, as a cord, chain, etc.; a band; a ligament; a shackle or a manacle.

The state of being bound; imprisonment; captivity, restraint.

A binding force or influence; a cause of union; a uniting tie; as, the bonds of fellowship.

Moral or political duty or obligation.

A writing under seal, by which a person binds himself, his heirs, executors, and administrators, to pay a certain sum on or before a future day appointed. This is a single bond. But usually a condition is added, that, if the obligor shall do a certain act, appear at a certain place, conform to certain rules, faithfully perform certain duties, or pay a certain sum of money, on or before a time specified, the obligation shall be void; otherwise it shall remain in full force. If the condition is not performed, the bond becomes forfeited, and the obligor and his heirs are liable to the payment of the whole sum.

A financial instrument (of the nature of the ordinary legal bond) made by a government or a corporation for purpose of borrowing money; a written promise to pay a specific sum of money on or before a specified day, given in return for a sum of money; as, a government, city, or railway bond.

The state of goods placed in a bonded warehouse till the duties are paid; as, merchandise in bond.

The union or tie of the several stones or bricks forming a wall. The bricks may be arranged for this purpose in several different ways, as in English bond or block bond (Fig. 1), where one course consists of bricks with their ends toward the face of the wall, called headers, and the next course of bricks with their lengths parallel to the face of the wall, called stretchers; Flemish bond (Fig.2), where each course consists of headers and stretchers alternately, so laid as always to break joints; Cross bond, which differs from the English by the change of the second stretcher line so that its joints come in the middle of the first, and the same position of stretchers comes back every fifth line; Combined cross and English bond, where the inner part of the wall is laid in the one method, the outer in the other.

A unit of chemical attraction between atoms; as, oxygen has two bonds of affinity. Also called chemical bond. It is often represented in graphic formulæ by a short line or dash. See Diagram of Benzene nucleus, and Valence. Several types of bond are distinguished by chemists, as double bond, triple bond, covalent bond, hydrogen bond.

A heavy copper wire or rod connecting adjacent rails of an electric railway track when used as a part of the electric circuit.

League; association; confederacy.

A vassal or serf; a slave.

To place under the conditions of a bond; to mortgage; to secure the payment of the duties on (goods or merchandise) by giving a bond.

To dispose in building, as the materials of a wall, so as to secure solidity.

In a state of servitude or slavery; captive.

An electrical force linking atoms

A certificate of debt (usually interest-bearing or discounted) that is issued by a government or corporation in order to raise money; the issuer is required to pay a fixed sum annually until maturity and then a fixed sum to repay the principal

A connection based on kinship or marriage or common interest;

(criminal law) money that must be forfeited by the bondsman if an accused person fails to appear in court for trial;

A restraint that confines or restricts freedom (especially something used to tie down or restrain a prisoner)

A connection that fastens things together

A superior quality of strong durable white writing paper; originally made for printing documents

United States civil rights leader who was elected to the legislature in Georgia but was barred from taking his seat because he opposed the Vietnam War (born 1940)

British secret operative 007 in novels by Ian Fleming

The property of sticking together (as of glue and wood) or the joining of surfaces of different composition

Stick to firmly;

Create social or emotional ties;

Issue bonds on

Bring together in a common cause or emotion;

Held in slavery;

A loan is direct borrowing from a lender with specific repayment terms, while a bond is a debt security issued to raise capital, paying periodic interest.

The interest rate on a loan is influenced by the borrower's creditworthiness, market conditions, and the lender's policies.

Loan interest rates can be fixed or variable, whereas bond coupon rates are generally fixed but their market value may fluctuate.

Bonds are repaid at maturity with a lump sum of the principal amount, alongside periodic interest payments during the bond's term.

Investors earn through periodic interest payments and the return of the principal amount at maturity.

Loans generally cannot be transferred without the lender's consent, unlike bonds, which can be bought and sold in secondary markets.

A bond's security depends on whether it is backed by specific assets (secured) or the issuer's general creditworthiness (unsecured).

Both require collateral, but secured loans are direct agreements with lenders, while secured bonds are part of a larger issuance to investors.

The ease depends on one's financial situation; loans require approval based on creditworthiness, while investing in bonds depends on available capital.

Typically, bonds are issued by entities like corporations, governments, and municipalities, not individual persons.

Entities issue bonds to access a broader capital market, potentially at lower interest rates, without affecting ownership stakes or borrowing directly.

In case of default, bondholders may lose their invested capital or receive less than the promised return, depending on the bond's terms and security.

Interest rates and credit availability for loans, and bond prices and yields, are influenced by economic conditions, such as inflation and central bank policies.

Bond safety varies by issuer and type; government bonds are typically safer than corporate bonds, which carry higher risk and potentially higher returns.

Ratings agencies assess the creditworthiness of bond issuers, influencing investor perception and the interest rates issuers must pay.