bargain

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈbɑː.ɡɪn/, US /ˈbɑːr.ɡɪn/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English bargayn, borrowed from Anglo-Norman bargayne, from Old French bargaine (“business, trade, deal”), from bargaignier (“to haggle over the price”) (modern French barguigner).^[2][3][4] The verb came directly from the French verb.^[2][4] Its source is probably Germanic:^[3][4][5] Etymonline suggests Frankish *borganjan (“to lend”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *borgan (“to pledge, lend, borrow”),^[3] Hoad gives *borʒanjan, from the root of borrow,^[6] and Merriam-Webster relates it to Old English borgian (“to borrow”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Discussion of the terms on which one party gives something to another, haggling: 1330 in the OED,^[7] before 1338 as bergayn in Mannyng's Chronicle in Barnhart,^[2] the mid-14th century in Etymonline.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The agreement itself is from about 1340,^[7] and that which is acquired by bargaining, a purchase seen as good or bad, from 1352.^[7][3] A transaction with unpleasant consequences is from about 1400.^[7] The verb is from about 1380, in Wycliffe,^[2] or about 1400 in Etymonline.^[3] The sense of an article sold at a reduced price is from 1899.^[7][3] In some English coalfields a bargain was a piece of work let to the miners (1825),^[7] and in Yorkshire and Derbyshire dialect it could mean a burden or annoyance, as an uneasy bargain, a cross child.^[8]

Timeline

• 1330 – haggling over terms.^[7]
• c. 1340 – an agreement.^[7]
• 1352 – something acquired by bargaining.^[7]
• c. 1380 – to bargain (verb).^[2]
• 1825 – a piece of mining work.^[7]
• 1899 – an article at a reduced price.^[7][3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An agreement between parties fixing what each will give, receive or do.
2. Something acquired by such an agreement.
3. Something bought or offered at a low price.
4. into the bargain (US also in the bargain): besides, in addition.

Verb

1. To negotiate the terms of an agreement, as of a sale.
2. To arrive at an agreement.
3. To exchange or trade something.

Word family

• bargainer
• bargainable
• bargain-basement
• plea-bargain
• prebargain
• outbargain
• bargaining chip
• bargaining unit

Related words

• borrow
• barter

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)