expenditure English · revision 39964

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1769, Edmund Burke|origins=la expendō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ɛkˈspɛndɪt͡ʃə/, /ɪkˈspɛndɪt͡ʃə/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ɛkˈspɛndɪt͡ʃɚ/, /ɪkˈspɛndɪt͡ʃɚ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[der|la-med|expenditus]], an irregular past participle, formed after [[m|la|venditus|t=sold]], of [[m|la|expendō|t=to weigh out, pay out]], with the suffix [[-ure]].^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024)^(Dictionary.com 2016) The Oxford Dictionary of English and the Shorter Oxford describe it as formed from [[expend]] after the obsolete [[m|en|expenditor]], an officer in charge of expenditure.^(ODE 2010)^(SOED 2002) Merriam-Webster also takes the stem from that noun,^(MWU 2024) and Klein says the word was coined by the British statesman Edmund Burke.^(Klein 1966)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The action of spending money: 1769, in Edmund Burke's ''Observations on a Late State of the Nation''.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) Dictionary.com dates it to 1760–70.^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Within fifty years the word was applied to things other than money: the amount spent (1791),^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) the using up or consumption of something (1812, in Wellington's dispatches), and the spending of energy, labour or time, often with a sense of waste (1821, in Charles Lamb).^(OED 2026) The Shorter Oxford quotes Adam Smith for the expenditure of public revenue.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1769 – the act of spending money, in Burke.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1791 – the amount spent.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1812 – consumption, using up.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1821 – the spending of energy or time.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The act of [[spend|alt=spending]] or using up money, time, effort or resources.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # The amount of money spent: ''The council cut its expenditure on roads.''^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[overexpenditure]]

+ * [[capital expenditure]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[expend]]

+ * [[expense]]

+ * [[spend]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}