dépense

Forms

dépense f (plural dépenses)^[1] Old French despanse (1176) and despense (13th century); dépense from the 17th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French despanse, inherited from Latin dispēnsa, the feminine past participle of dispendō (“to weigh out, distribute”) used as a noun.^[3][4][5][6] The verb is formed from Latin dis- + pendō (“to weigh”).^[1] Bloch and Wartburg note that the ⟨n⟩ was kept, as in dépens.^[5] The sense “storeroom” goes back to Medieval Latin dispensa “what is needed for upkeep, provisions” (819) and then “pantry”.^[3]

Cognate with Italian dispensa, Old Occitan despensa and Portuguese despesa.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Chrétien de Troyes uses a grant despance in Cligès (1176) for the act of spending money, at great expense.^[3] Rey thinks the word is probably older, since dépensier is found from 1130.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word names the use of money and, by metonymy, the sum spent, the costs, a sense in which it rivalled and supplanted dépens.^[4] By extension it means the use of anything, first of time (La Bruyère, 1693), and then the quantity of matter or energy used (Cournot, 1851).^[3][4]

Another metonymy gave the sense of a room where provisions are kept (about 1180, Marie de France), especially the office in a castle or monastery where goods were received and handed out and suppliers paid; this sense is now archaic or historical.^[4][3] Around 1200 the word also meant food.^[3] The verb dépenser (about 1225) followed the same course and displaced the older despendre.^[4][5]

Timeline

• 1176 – Despance “spending” in Chrétien de Troyes' Cligès.^[3]
• c. 1180 – Sense “storeroom” in Marie de France's Fables.^[3][4]
• c. 1207 – Villehardouin uses it for money spent.^[2]
• 1693 – La Bruyère uses it of time.^[3]
• 1851 – Cournot uses it for the quantity of matter used by a machine.^[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The spending of money, and a sum spent: an expense: une dépense de cinquante euros.^[8][3]
2. (chiefly plural) expenditure, outgoings, as of a household or a state.^[8][3]
3. The use or consumption of something (time, strength, energy, fuel): la dépense d'énergie d'un moteur.^[3][8]
4. (historical) A storeroom or pantry where provisions are kept and given out, as in a castle or convent.^[4][3]

Word family

• dépenser
• dépensier

Related words

• dépens
• dispendieux
• Latin dispendō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 97a
7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert