_"Imprest" and "Debenture"_ (Vol. ii., p. 40.).--_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
{77} 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-debentures_. Perhaps this may throw _some_ light upon the matter.