Definition of Debtor

One who owes a debt; he who may be compelled to pay a claim or demand.
—Common debtor. In Scotch law. A debtor whose effects have been arrested by several creditors. In regard to these creditors, he is their common debtor, and by this term is distinguished in the proceedings that take place in the competition. Bell.
—Debtor's act 1869. The stafute 32 & 33 Viet. c. 62, abolishing imprisonment for debt in England, and for the punishment of fraudulent debtors. 2 Steph. Comm. 159-164. Not to be confounded with the Bankruptcy Act of 1869. Mozley & Whitley.
—Debtor's summons. In English law. A summons issuing from a court having jurisdiction in bankruptcy, upon the creditor proving a liquidated debt of not less than £50, which he has failed to collect after reasonable effort, stating that if the debtor fail, within one week if a trader, and within three weeks if a non-trader, to pay or compound for the sum specified, a petition may be presented against him praying that he may be adjudged a bankrupt. Bankruptcy Act I860, § 7 ; Robs. Bankr.; Mozley & Whitley.