Debit is an accounting and bookkeeping term that comes from the Latin word debere which means "to owe." The opposite of a debit is a credit. Debit is abbreviated Dr while credit is abbreviated Cr.
A debit can be either a positive or negative entry to an account depending on what type of account is being debited. Asset and expense accounts increase in value when debited, whereas liability, capital, and revenue accounts decrease in value when debited.
For instance, the journal entry for paying the phone bill might look like this:
| Description | Debits | Credits |
| Phone expense | $200.00 | |
| $200.00 |
The phone company would record the exact same transaction (from their side) like this:
| Description | Debits | Credits |
| Cash | $200.00 | |
| $200.00 |
