expensive

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪkˈspen.sɪv/^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English expense + -ive,^[2][3] or from Latin expēns-, the past participle stem of expendere (“to pay out”), with -ive, associated early with expense.^[4][5] It is related to expend and spend.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a person, given to lavish expenditure: 1628 in the OED,^[6] the 1620s in Etymonline,^[2] and about 1610 in Merriam-Webster.^[7]

Semantic evolution

“Costly, requiring much expenditure”, of a thing, is from 1634.^[6][2] The older sense, “extravagant”, is now rare,^[6] but Johnson still gave “given to expense; extravagant; luxurious” first.^[3] At cricket an expensive bowler gives away many runs (1882).^[6] Earlier there was expenseful (about 1600), and expenseless was in use from the mid-17th to the 18th century.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1600 – expenseful.^[2]
• 1628 – lavish, of a person.^[6]
• 1634 – costly, of a thing.^[6]
• 1882 – at cricket, of a bowler.^[6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Costing a great deal; costly.
2. Charging high prices: expensive shops.
3. Involving great cost or sacrifice.

Word family

• expensively
• expensiveness
• inexpensive

Related words

• expend
• expense
• expenditure
• spend
• pension

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster