squander English · revision 1257

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈskwɒnd.ə/ ''(UK)''; /ˈskwɑn.dɚ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is of unknown or uncertain origin.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To spend money or goods wastefully (1593 in the OED and Barnhart;^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) 1580s in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) 1536 in Merriam-Webster).^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Shakespeare used it in ''The Merchant of Venice'' in the sense “scattered over a wide area”,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and the verb also meant to cause to scatter (1657) and to roam about (1630).^(OED 1989) The sense of wasting time is from 1693,^(OED 1989) and of losing an advantage or opportunity through negligence is more recent.^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary) Etymonline records later coinages: ''squandermania'' (1920), ''squanderlust'' (1935) and the British wartime ''squander-bug'' (1943).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1593 – to spend wastefully.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1596 – scattered over an area.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1657 – to scatter or disperse.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1693 – to waste time.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1709 – noun, an act of squandering.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To spend money, time or resources wastefully or extravagantly; to [[dissipate]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To waste an advantage or opportunity through negligence.^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To scatter or disperse.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # Extravagant or wasteful spending.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[squanderer]]

+ * [[squanderingly]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Random House gives ''waste'', ''dissipate'' and ''lavish'' as synonyms, refers to ''spend'' for a discussion, and gives ''save'' as an antonym.^(RHWU) Wiktionary notes that the word implies starting with plentiful resources and wasting them, as in ''squander an inheritance''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}