costly

Etymology

It is formed from English cost + -ly,^[2][3][4][5] Middle English costli, also coistili.^[6][7] The noun cost is from Old French cost (“cost, outlay, expenditure”), from Latin cōnstō (“to stand firm; to cost”).^[3] The OED compares Old Frisian kostelik, Middle Dutch costelijc, Middle Low German köstlīk, Middle High German kostelīch (now köstlich, chiefly "delicious") and Old Norse kostligr.^[2] English had earlier adjectives of the same sense, costful (mid-13th century) and costious (mid-14th century),^[3][2] and the OED notes costlew slightly earlier than costly.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adverb, expensively or sumptuously, comes first: 1395, in the Remonstrance against Romish Corruptions.^[2][6] The adjective, of a high price or value, sumptuous, is recorded from before 1400,^[2] and in Wyclif's works in the sense of expensive.^[6] Etymonline dates it to the late 14th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Besides "of high price", the word was used from before 1425 of what involves high expense, and also great loss or sacrifice.^[2] The Century Dictionary (1891), quoted by Etymonline, still called the figurative use, as in a costly mistake or a costly victory, not common;^[3] it is now a standard sense in Collins and Merriam-Webster.^[8][5] Of people, costly meant lavish or extravagant in spending from about 1555, a sense now somewhat rare,^[2][4] and Johnson (1755) defined the word as sumptuous, expensive, of a high price, quoting Hamlet: "Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy".^[9] The adverb went out of use; the OED's last record is from 1898.^[2][10] In Shropshire costly, or costly colours, was a card game much like cribbage, already going out of use in 1874.^[11][4]

Timeline

• 1395 – adverb, expensively, sumptuously (obsolete by 1898).^[2][6]
• before 1400 – adjective, of a high price or value; sumptuous.^[2][6]
• before 1425 – involving high expense, or great loss or sacrifice.^[2]
• c. 1555 – of a person, lavish in spending, extravagant.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Costing a great deal; expensive, especially because of fine quality or rarity: a costly silk carpet.^[8][12][5]
2. Causing great loss, damage or sacrifice: The delay proved costly for the whole team.^[8][12][5]
3. Rich or splendid; lavish.^[8][5][2]
4. (archaic) Of a person, lavish or extravagant in spending.^[4][2]

Adverb

1. (obsolete, 1395–1898) Expensively; sumptuously.^[2][4][6]

Word family

• costliness
• overcostly
• uncostly

Related words

• cost

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary distinguishes costly, expensive and dear, which refer chiefly to the price of acquiring something, from valuable, precious, invaluable and priceless, which describe worth.^[12] Costly especially suggests high quality or rarity.^[12] In Norfolk and East Anglian dialect costly also meant costive, constipated.^[11]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
11. ^ a b 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)
12. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin