thrift
Appearance
See also: Thrift
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle English thrift, thryfte, þrift, from Old Norse þrift (“thriving condition, prosperity”). Equivalent to thrive + -t.[1]
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]thrift (countable and uncountable, plural thrifts)
- (uncountable) The characteristic of using a minimum of something (especially money).
- His thrift can be seen in how little the trashman takes from his house.
- 1596 (date written; published 1633), Edmund Spenser, A Vewe of the Present State of Irelande […], Dublin: […] Societie of Stationers, […], →OCLC; republished as A View of the State of Ireland […] (Ancient Irish Histories), Dublin: […] Society of Stationers, […] Hibernia Press, […] [b]y John Morrison, 1809, →OCLC:
- The rest, […] willing to fall to thrift , as I have seene many souldiers after the service to prove very good husbands
- 1892, Ambrose Bierce, Tales of Soldiers and Civilians: Holy Terror:
- […] it would appear that before taking this precaution Mr. Bree must have had the thrift to remove a modest competency of the gold […]
- (countable, US) A savings bank.
- Usually, home mortgages are obtained from thrifts.
- (countable) Any of various plants of the genus Armeria, particularly Armeria maritima.
- (obsolete) Success and advance in the acquisition of property; increase of worldly goods; gain; prosperity; profit.
- c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
- Bassanio: […] And many Jasons come in quest of her.
O my Antonio, had I but the means
To hold a rival place with one of them,
I have a mind presages me such thrift,
That I should questionless be fortunate!
- c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
- Hamlet: No, let the candied tongue lick absurd pomp,
And crook the pregnant hinges of the knee
Where thrift may follow fawning.
- (obsolete) Vigorous growth, as of a plant.
Synonyms
[edit]- (characteristic of using a minimum of something): frugality
Antonyms
[edit]Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]characteristic of using a minimum of something
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savings bank — see savings bank
various plants of the genus Armeria
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Verb
[edit]thrift (third-person singular simple present thrifts, present participle thrifting, simple past and past participle thrifted)
- (transitive) To obtain from a thrift shop.
- 2007, James Bernard Frost, World Leader Pretend, page 152:
- She probably thrifted the T-shirt and shorts. Bought the hiking boots yesterday at Copeland's. She's not much of a hiker, Xerxes thinks.
References
[edit]- ^ “thrift”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
Middle English
[edit]Noun
[edit]thrift
- growth
- 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “(please specify the story)”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC:
- Medleth na-more with that art, I mene,
For, if ye doon, your thrift is goon ful clene.- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *terp-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old Norse
- English terms suffixed with -t
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ɪft
- Rhymes:English/ɪft/1 syllable
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- American English
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- en:Caryophyllales order plants
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- Middle English terms with quotations