[GNC] [OT] Why is Debit abbreviated Dr?

[Mike or Penny Novack]

On 9/5/2018 2:42 PM, Geoff Jankowski via gnucash-user wrote:
> David
>
> I would love to agree with you but…..
>
> In standard journal notation cr is a debt and dr an asset.  This is because it is nothing to do with credit (+ve) and debit (-ve) in any sense (or tense) but to do with a creditor (to whom we owe) and a debtor (who owes us).  Hence dr and cr relate to debtor and creditor and not to any form of debit or credit.
>
Ah but it does, and will make sense once you realize that the origins of 
double entry goes back in time long enough that educated Europeans still 
used Latin for some purposes. Not "a debit" or "a credit" but Latin for 
"he owes" (me)  and "he trusts" (me). Thus assets were debits (amounts 
somebody owed one) and liabilities credits (what one owed somebody).

Michael D Novack