Refinance

Etymology

From re- "again" + "finance", which comes through Old French "finer" (to settle, to end) from "fin" (end), Latin "finis". Finance originally meant settling or ending a debt, so to refinance is to settle an old debt by opening a new one — ending one arrangement to begin another.

verb · /REE-fy-nanss/
To replace an existing loan with a new one, usually to get a lower interest rate or different terms.
What it names
The move of swapping out a loan mid-stream — trading your old debt for cheaper or more manageable debt.
Example
When rates dropped, they refinanced the mortgage and cut two hundred dollars off the monthly payment.
Related idea
Distinguish consolidation: refinancing typically replaces one loan with one better loan, while consolidation rolls several debts into a single new one — often to simplify payments rather than to lower the rate.