Etymologically
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expensive

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 20:38. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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
  • 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