Origin and history of spend

spend(v.)

"to pay out or away, deprive oneself of" (money, wealth), Middle English spenden, from Old English -spendan (in forspendan "use up"), from Medieval Latin spendere, a shortening of Latin expendere "to weigh out money, pay down" (see expend) or possibly of dispendere "to pay out" (see dispense). The word was borrowed generally in Germanic: Old High German spendon, German and Middle Dutch spenden, Old Norse spenna.

The Middle English word is also probably in part from or merged with Old French despendre, from Latin dispendere.

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In reference to anything of exchangeable value (labor, thoughts, time, etc.), "consume, use up," attested from c. 1300. The notion of "consume or use wastefully or fruitlessly" is by late 14c. The intransitive sense "exhaust, wear (oneself) out" is from 1590s (see spent).

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Entries linking to spend

dispense(v.)

mid-14c., dispensen, "to dispose of, deal or divide out," from Old French dispenser "give out" (13c.), from Latin dispensare "disburse, administer, distribute (by weight)," frequentative of dispendere "pay out," from dis- "out" (see dis-) + pendere "to hang, cause to hang; weigh; pay" (from PIE root *(s)pen- "to draw, stretch, spin").

In Medieval Latin, dispendere was used in the ecclesiastical sense of "grant licence to do what is forbidden or omit what is required" (a power of popes, bishops, etc.), and thus acquired a sense of "grant remission from punishment or exemption from law," hence the use of the English verb in the senses "to do away with" (1570s), "do without" (c. 1600). The older sense is preserved in dispensary. Related: Dispensed; dispensing.

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expend(v.)

"to spend, pay out; to consume by use, spend in using," early 15c., expenden, from Latin expendere "pay out, weigh out money," from ex "out, out of" (see ex-) + pendere "to hang, cause to hang; weigh; pay" (from PIE root *(s)pen- "to draw, stretch, spin"). For the financial sense of the Latin verb, see pound (n.1). Related: Expended; expending.

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pass
late 13c., passen (transitive), "to go by (something)," also "to cross over," from Old French passer "to pass" (11c.), from Vulgar Latin *passare "to step, walk, pass" (source also of Spanish pasar, Italian passare), from Latin passus "step, pace" (from PIE root *pete- "to spread
drop
Middle English drope, from Old English dropa "a small, spherical mass of liquid," from Proto-Germanic *drupon (source also of Old Saxon dropo, Old Norse dropi, Dutch drop, Old High German tropfo, German Tropfen (n.)); see drop (v.). Sense of "minute quantity of anything, least po
defray
1540s, "make compensation for, spend, pay for" (a sense now archaic); 1570s, "satisfy by payment," from Old French defraier..., defrayer (15c.), perhaps from de- "out" (see de-) + fraier "spend," from frais "costs, damages caused by breakage," from...
squander
1580s (squandering, Nashe), "to spend recklessly or prodigiously, use without judgment or economy," of unknown origin; Shakespeare...-Indiana) coined squanderlust (1935) for the tendency of government bureaucracies to spend much money....
fritter
"whittle away, waste bit by bit, spend on trifles," 1728, probably from noun fritter "fragment or shred" (though this is...
largesse
also largess, "willingness to give or spend freely; munificence," c. 1200, from Old French largesse, largece "a bounty, munificence...
sojourn
also "reside permanently, dwell;" from Old French sojorner "stay or dwell for a time," from Vulgar Latin *subdiurnare "to spend...
verse
late Old English (replacing Old English fers, an early West Germanic borrowing directly from Latin), "line or section of a psalm or canticle," later "line of poetry" (late 14c.), from Anglo-French and Old French vers "line of verse; rhyme, song," from Latin versus "a line, row, l
serve
late 12c., serven, "to render habitual obedience to, owe allegiance to," also "minister, give aid, give help," from Old French servir "to do duty toward, show devotion to; set table, serve at table; offer, provide with," from Latin servire "be a servant, be in service, be enslave
sever
late 14c., severen, transitive, "cause a separation or division, put or keep apart," from Anglo-French severer, Old French sevrer "to separate" (12c., later in French restricted to "to wean," i.e. "to separate from the mother"), from Vulgar Latin *seperare, from Latin separare "t
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Dictionary entries near spend