frugality

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French frugalité.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɹuːˈɡæləti/

Noun

frugality (countable and uncountable, plural frugalities)

1. The quality of being frugal; prudent economy; thrift.
   • 1811, Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility, Chapter 47:

     Your sense of honour and honesty would have led you, I know, when aware of your situation, to attempt all the economy that would appear to you possible; and, perhaps, as long as your frugality retrenched only on your own comfort, you might have been suffered to practice it, but beyond that—

   • 1902, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Bush Studies (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 14:

     With the frugality that hard graft begets, his mate limited both his and her own tobacco, so he must not smoke all afternoon.

2. A sparing use; sparingness.

Synonyms

• frugalness (less common variant)
• parsimony
• thriftiness

Translations

quality of being frugal; prudent economy; thrift

• Armenian: տնտեսողություն (tntesoġutʻyun), խնայողություն (hy) (xnayoġutʻyun), չափավորություն (hy) (čʻapʻavorutʻyun)
• Bulgarian: пестеливост (bg) f (pestelivost)
• Catalan: frugalitat (ca) f
• Czech: skromnost (cs) f, spořivost f
• Danish: nøjsomhed c, beskedenhed c, sparsommelighed c
• Dutch: zuinigheid (nl) f, spaarzaamheid (nl), frugaliteit f, soberheid (nl), matigheid (nl)
• Finnish: säästäväisyys (fi), nuukuus (fi)
• French: frugalité (fr) f
• Galician: frugalidade (gl) f
• Georgian: მომჭირნეობა (momč̣irneoba), დამზოგველობა (damzogveloba), ეკონომიურობა (eḳonomiuroba), ზომიერება (zomiereba), მოკრძალებულობა (moḳrʒalebuloba), ყაირათი (q̇airati)
• German: Genügsamkeit (de) f, Einfachheit (de) f, Frugalität (de) f, Sparsamkeit (de) f
• Greek: λιτότητα (el) f (litótita)

  Ancient: φειδωλία f (pheidōlía)

• Irish: baileachas m, cruinneas m, spárálacht f, tíosaíocht f
• Italian: frugalità (it) f
• Latin: parsimōnia f, frūgālitās f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: måtehold, sparsommelighet

• Portuguese: frugalidade (pt) f
• Punjabi: ਕਮਖਰਚੀ f (kamkharacī)
• Romanian: cumpătare (ro), frugalitate (ro) f
• Russian: бережли́вость (ru) f (berežlívostʹ), эконо́мность (ru) f (ekonómnostʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: štedljivost (sh), skromnost (sh), čuvarnost (sh)
• Spanish: frugalidad (es) f, parsimonia (es) f
• Turkish: tutumluluk (tr)
• Welsh: cynildeb m, darbodaeth f

References

• “frugality”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “frugality”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.