SUMPTUARY

sumptuary

(adjective) regulating or controlling expenditure or personal behavior; “sumptuary laws discouraging construction of large houses on small plots”; “sumptuary laws forbidding gambling”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Adjective

sumptuary (comparative more sumptuary, superlative most sumptuary)

Relating to expense; regulating expense or expenditure.

(of a law, regulation, etc.) Intended to restrain or limit the expenditure of citizens in apparel, food, furniture, etc.; to regulate the prices of commodities and the wages of labor; or to forbid or restrict the use of certain articles, as of luxurious apparel.

Source: Wiktionary


Sump"tu*a*ry, a. Etym: [L. sumptuarius, fr. sumptus expense, cost, fr. sumere, sumptum, to take, use, spend; sub under + emere to take, buy: cf. F. somptuaire. See Redeem.]

Definition: Relating to expense; regulating expense or expenditure. Bacon. Sumptuary laws or regulations, laws intended to restrain or limit the expenditure of citizens in apparel, food, furniture, etc.; laws which regulate the prices of commodities and the wages of labor; laws which forbid or restrict the use of certain articles, as of luxurious apparel.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

25 December 2024

UNAMBIGUOUS

(adjective) having or exhibiting a single clearly defined meaning; “As a horror, apartheid...is absolutely unambiguous”- Mario Vargas Llosa


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Coffee Trivia

The word “coffee” entered the English language in 1582 via the Dutch “koffie,” borrowed from the Ottoman Turkish “kahve,” borrowed in turn from the Arabic “qahwah.” The Arabic word qahwah was traditionally held to refer to a type of wine.

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