spend English · revision 3199

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1175|origins=la expendere}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /spend/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|spenden|t=to pay out]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) from Old English -spendan, as in forspendan “to use up”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) [[bor|la-med|spendere]], a shortening of [[la|expendere|t=to weigh out money, pay down]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) the source of [[expend]], or possibly of [[m|la|dispendere|t=to pay out]].^(Etymonline) The word was borrowed widely in Germanic: Old High German spendōn, German spenden, Old Norse spenna.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) The Middle English word is partly also an aphetic form of dispend, from Old French despendre, from Latin dispendere.^(AHD 2000)^(Hoad 1986)^(COED 2004)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ “To pay out money”: about 1175.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Of anything with value, such as labour, thought or time, “to consume, use up”, is from about 1300,^(Etymonline) and “to consume wastefully” by the late 14th century.^(Etymonline) “To exhaust, wear oneself out” is from the 1590s; compare [[spent]].^(Etymonline) ''To spend and be spent'' is from 1611.^(OED 1989) ''Spendthrift'', in which thrift means “savings, wealth”, is from 1601.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) The noun, “an act of spending, an amount spent”, is from before 1688.^(OED 1989) In East Anglia ''spend'' also meant “to span with the fingers”, from Old Norse spenna.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1175 – to pay out money.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1300 – to use up time or effort.^(Etymonline)

+ * late 14th century – to waste.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1590s – to exhaust oneself.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1601 – ''spendthrift''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1688 – noun, an amount spent.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To pay out money.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # To pass time in a particular way or place: ''spent the summer abroad''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To use up; to [[exhaust]]: ''the storm spent itself''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To give effort or energy to something.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(informal)'' An amount of money spent.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[spendable]]

+ * [[spender]]

+ * [[underspend]]

+ * [[misspend]]

+ * [[outspend]]

+ * [[overspend]]

+ * [[spendthrift]]

+ * [[spendy]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[expend]]

+ * [[expense]]

+ * [[dispense]]

+ * [[spent]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Spend'', ''disburse'' and ''expend'' share the meaning “to pay or give out money or an equivalent in return for something”.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}