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, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle English cheep, chepe/chepen, chep, cheap/cheapien, chapien, from Old English cēap (“cattle, purchase, sale”), ċēapian (“to bargain, chaffer, trade”), from Proto-West Germanic *kaup (“trade, purchase”), *kaupōn (“to buy, trade”), from Proto-Germanic *kaupōną, *kaupijaną (“to buy, trade”), *kaupô (“inn-keeper, merchant”), from Latin caupō (“tradesman, innkeeper”). See also chapman. For sense evolution to "inexpensive," compare bargain or French bon marché.
Cognates
Cognate with Scots chepe (“to sell”), chape (“sale price”), North Frisian keap (“purchase”), West Frisian keap (“purchase, buy, acquisition”), Dutch koop (“buy, purchase, deal”), kopen (“to buy, purchase, shop”), Low German kopen (“to buy”), German Kauf (“trade, traffic, bargain, purchase, buy”), kaufen (“to buy”), Swedish köp (“bargain, purchase”), köpa (“to buy, purchase”), Norwegian Nynorsk kjøpa (“to buy, purchase”), Icelandic kaup (“purchase, bargain”), kaupa (“to purchase”); also borrowed as Finnish kauppa (“shop, trade”), Russian купить (kupitʹ, “to purchase”), Old Church Slavonic коупити (kupiti, “to purchase”), Bulgarian ку́пя (kúpja, “to purchase”), Serbo-Croatian купити (“to purchase”), Czech koupit (“to purchase”), Polish kupić (“to purchase”).
Pronunciation
Noun
cheap (countable and uncountable, plural cheaps)
- (obsolete) Trade; traffic; chaffer; chaffering.
- (obsolete) A market; marketplace.
- (Can we verify(+) this sense?) Price.
- (obsolete) A low price; a bargain.
c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :The sack that thou hast drunk me would have bought me lights as good cheap at the dearest chandler's in Europe.
- (Can we verify(+) this sense?) Cheapness; lowness of price; abundance of supply.
The cheap of this book is incredible.
Adjective
cheap (comparative cheaper, superlative cheapest)
- Low or reduced in price.
1691, [John Locke], Some Considerations of the Consequences of the Lowering of Interest, and Raising the Value of Money. , London: Awnsham and John Churchill, , published 1692, →OCLC:Where there are many sellers and few purchases, land will be cheap.
1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter III, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:One saint's day in mid-term a certain newly appointed suffragan-bishop came to the school chapel, and there preached on “The Inner Life.” He at once secured attention by his informal method, and when presently the coughing of Jarvis […] interrupted the sermon, he altogether captivated his audience with a remark about cough lozenges being cheap and easily procurable.
2013 July 20, “Out of the gloom”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:[Rural solar plant] schemes are of little help to industry or other heavy users of electricity. Nor is solar power yet as cheap as the grid. For all that, the rapid arrival of electric light to Indian villages is long overdue. When the national grid suffers its next huge outage, as it did in July 2012 when hundreds of millions were left in the dark, look for specks of light in the villages.
- Of poor quality.
- Of little worth.
- (slang, of an action or tactic in a game of skill) Underhand or unfair.
- the cheap trick of hiding deadly lava under pushable blocks
- (informal, chiefly derogatory) Stingy; mean; excessively frugal.
Insurance is expensive, but don't be so cheap that you risk losing your home because of a fire.
- (finance) Trading at a price level which is low relative to historical trends, a similar asset, or (for derivatives) a theoretical value.
- The ETF is trading cheap to NAV right now; we can arb this by buying the ETF and selling the underlying constituents.
- (computing) Taking little of system time or resources.
the algorithm is cheap to compute
Usage notes
- Because cheap is polysemically ambiguous, it is not always clear whether the intended meaning is inexpensive, poorly made, or both; apt word choice, with terms such as good value or shoddy, can clarify.
Synonyms
- (low/reduced in price): affordable, bargain, frugal, economical, inexpensive, no-frills, priced-off, nickel
- (of poor quality): flimsy, nickel, shoddy, poorly made
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations
low and/or reduced in price
- Afrikaans: goedkoop
- Albanian: i lirë (sq)
- Amharic: ርካሽ (rəkaš), እርካሽ (ʾərkaš)
- Arabic: رَخِيص (raḵīṣ)
- Egyptian Arabic: رخيص (riḵīṣ)
- Moroccan Arabic: رْخيص m (rḵiṣ)
- Armenian: էժան (hy) (ēžan)
- Asturian: baratu
- Azerbaijani: ucuz (az)
- Bashkir: осһоҙ (oshoź), арзан (arzan)
- Basque: merke
- Belarusian: та́нны (tánny), дзяшо́вы (dzjašóvy) (colloquial)
- Bengali: সস্তা (bn) (śosta)
- Bulgarian: е́втин (bg) (évtin) (low); намале́н (bg) (namalén) (reduced)
- Burmese: သက်သာ (my) (saksa), ဈေးချို (my) (jhe:hkyui), ပေါ (my) (pau:)
- Carpathian Rusyn: тунї (tunji)
- Catalan: barat (ca)
- Cebuano: barato
- Chamicuro: warato
- Chechen: дораха (doraxa)
- Chichewa: yotchipa
- Chinese:
- Cantonese: 平 (peng4)
- Dungan: пянйи (pi͡anyi), җян (ži͡an)
- Hakka: 便宜 (phièn-ngì)
- Hokkien: 俗 (zh-min-nan) (sio̍k)
- Mandarin: 便宜 (zh) (piányi), 賤/贱 (zh) (jiàn)
- Wu: 便宜, 𠼢 (6jian)
- Chuvash: йӳнӗ (jünĕ)
- Cornish: a brys ysel
- Czech: levný (cs)
- Danish: billig (da)
- Dutch: goedkoop (nl), onduur, betaalbaar (nl), afgeprijsd (nl), in aanbieding
- Esperanto: malmultekosta, ĉipa
- Estonian: odav (et)
- Faroese: bíligur
- Finnish: halpa (fi)
- French: bon marché (fr), pas cher, peu cher, économique (fr)
- Galician: barato (gl), barateiro (low); rebaixado m (reduced)
- Georgian: იაფფასიანი (iappasiani)
- German: billig (de), preiswert (de), preisgünstig (de)
- Greek: φτηνός (el) (ftinós)
- Ancient: εὐτελής (eutelḗs), εὔωνος (eúōnos), εὐθηνός (euthēnós)
- Hebrew: זוֹל (he) m (zol), זולה f (zola)
- Hindi: सस्ता (hi) (sastā)
- Hungarian: olcsó (hu)
- Icelandic: ódýr (is)
- Ido: chipa (io)
- Ilocano: barato
- Indonesian: murah (id)
- Ingrian: hootava
- Ingush: доарах (doarax)
- Irish: saor
- Isan: please add this translation if you can
- Italian: economico (it), a buon mercato, poco costoso
- Japanese: 安い (ja) (やすい, yasui), 安価 (ja) (あんか, anka), (extremely cheap) 激安 (ja) (げきやす, gekiyasu)
- Kabuverdianu: baratu, baróte
- Karakhanid: اُجُزْ (učuz)
- Kazakh: арзан (arzan)
- Khmer: ថោក (km) (thaok)
- Khün: ᨳᩪᨠ
- Korean: 싸다 (ko) (ssada) (predicative), 싼 (ko) (ssan) (attributive)
- Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: ھەرزان (herzan)
- Northern Kurdish: erzan (ku)
- Kyrgyz: арзан (ky) (arzan)
- Lao: ຖືກ (thư̄k)
- Latin: vīlis
- Latvian: lēts
- Lithuanian: pigus m, pigi f
- Lü: ᦏᦳᧅᧈ (ṫhuk¹)
- Luxembourgish: bëlleg
- Macedonian: евтин (evtin) (low); намален m (namalen), снижен m (snižen), поевтинет m (poevtinet) (reduced)
- Malay: murah (ms)
- Maltese: rħis
- Manx: neuphriosoil
- Maori: utu ngāwari
- Marathi: स्वस्त (svasta)
- Mongolian: хямд төсөр (xjamd tösör)
- Nepali: सस्तो (sasto), सुलभ (ne) (sulabh)
- Norman: (Guernsey) bouan marchi, (Jersey) bouôn marchi
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: billig (no)
- Nynorsk: billeg, billig
- Occitan: economic (oc)
- Old East Slavic: дешевъ (deševŭ)
- Old English: undīere
- Ottoman Turkish: اوجوز (ucuz)
- Pashto: ارزان (ps) (arzân)
- Persian: ارزان (fa) (arzân), مفت (fa) (moft)
- Polish: niedrogi (pl), tani (pl)
- Portuguese: barato (pt) (low); barateado (pt) (reduced)
- Romanian: ieftin (ro)
- Romansch: (Rumantsch Grischun) bunmartgà, (Sursilvan) bienmarcau, (Sutsilvan) bùnmartgieu, (Surmiran) bunmartgea, (Puter) bunmarcho, (Vallader) bunmarchà
- Russian: дешёвый (ru) (dešóvyj), недорого́й (ru) (nedorogój)
- Sanskrit: अल्पमूल्य (alpamūlya), न्यूनमूल्य (nyūnamūlya)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: је̏фтин
- Roman: jȅftin (sh)
- Shan: ပေႃး (shn) (páu), ထုၵ်ႇ (shn) (thùk)
- Shona: -chipa
- Sinhalese: බාල (si) (bāla), ලාභ (lābha)
- Slovak: lacný
- Slovene: poceni (sl)
- Somali: jaban (so)
- Sorbian:
- Lower Sorbian: tuni, pśigódny
- Upper Sorbian: tuni
- Spanish: barato (es), económico (es)
- Swahili: rahisi (sw)
- Swedish: billig (sv) (low); nedsatt (sv) (reduced)
- Tagalog: mura
- Tai Dam: ꪖꪴꪀ
- Tai Nüa: ᥙᥨᥰ (pö)
- Tajik: арзон (tg) (arzon)
- Tamil: மலிவான (malivāṉa)
- Tatar: арзан (arzan)
- Tausug: maluhay
- Telugu: చౌక (te) (cauka) (low); తగ్గింపు ధర (taggimpu dhara) (reduced)
- Thai: ถูก (th) (tùuk)
- Tibetan: ཁེ་པོ (khe po)
- Tigrinya: ሕሱር (ḥəsur)
- Turkish: ucuz (tr)
- Turkmen: arzan (tk)
- Ukrainian: деше́вий (uk) (dešévyj)
- Urdu: سستا (ur) (sastā), ارزاں (arzān)
- Uyghur: ئەرزان (erzan)
- Uzbek: arzon (uz)
- Vietnamese: rẻ (vi)
- Volapük: nejerik (vo)
- Walloon: bonmartchî (wa)
- Waray-Waray: barato
- Welsh: rhad (cy)
- White Hmong: please add this translation if you can
- Yiddish: ביליק (bilik)
- Zazaki: arzan, erzan (diq), ercan (diq), ercon (low); erzan (diq) (reduced)
- Zhuang: bienzngeiz, cienh
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of poor quality
- Armenian: էժանագին (hy) (ēžanagin)
- Basque: merke
- Bulgarian: долнока́чествен (bg) (dolnokáčestven)
- Catalan: barat (ca)
- Chinese:
- Cantonese: 渣 (zaa2), 鮓/鲊 (zaa2)
- Mandarin: 低級的/低级的 (zh) (dījí de)
- Danish: tarvelig
- Dutch: goedkoop (nl), laagwaardig, ordinair (nl)
- Finnish: kehno (fi), huono (fi), halpa (fi), huonolaatuinen (fi)
- French: (colloquial) à deux balles (fr), au rabais
- German: billig (de)
- Greek: φτηνός (el) (ftinós)
- Ancient: εὐτελής (eutelḗs)
- Hungarian: olcsó (hu), ócska (hu)
- Indonesian: murahan (id)
- Italian: scadente (it)
- Japanese: 安っぽい (ja) (やすっぽい, yasuppoi), 安物の (ja) (やすものの, yasumono no), チープ (chīpu)
- Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: توڕەھات (turrehat)
- Latin: vīlis
- Latvian: lēts
- Macedonian: евтин (evtin), неквалите́тен (nekvalitéten)
- Old English: undīere
- Pashto: ارزان (ps) (arzân)
- Polish: tandetny (pl)
- Portuguese: barato (pt)
- Russian: низкопро́бный (ru) (nizkopróbnyj), нека́чественный (ru) (nekáčestvennyj), низкока́чественный (ru) (nizkokáčestvennyj)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: јефтин m, неквалитетан m
- Roman: jeftin (sh) m, nekvalitetan (sh) m
- Slovene: cenen
- Spanish: barato (es), corriente (es)
- Swedish: billig (sv)
- Tamil: தரம் குறைந்த (taram kuṟainta)
- Telugu: తక్కువ రకం (takkuva rakaṁ)
- Turkish: ucuz (tr), adi (tr), kıytırık (tr)
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slang: underhand or unfair in game
finance: trading at a low price level
Translations to be checked
See also
Verb
cheap (third-person singular simple present cheaps, present participle cheaping, simple past and past participle cheaped)
- (intransitive, obsolete) To trade; traffic; bargain; chaffer; ask the price of goods; cheapen goods.
- (transitive, obsolete) To bargain for; chaffer for; ask the price of; offer a price for; cheapen.
- (transitive, obsolete) To buy; purchase.
- (transitive, obsolete) To sell.
Usage notes
Use of cheap as a verb has been superseded by cheapen.
Derived terms
Adverb
cheap (comparative more cheap, superlative most cheap)
- Cheaply.
- I bought this cheap in a junk shop.
- The pet shop has some budgerigars going cheap.
- March 24 1658, John Milton, letter to Emeric Bigot
- I need not request you to purchase them as cheap as possible
Anagrams
Chinese
Etymology
From English cheap.
Pronunciation
Adjective
cheap
- (Cantonese, of people) stingy; mean; excessively frugal
- (Cantonese) cheap; low-priced; bearing poor quality
References
Irish
Pronunciation
Noun
cheap m
- Lenited form of ceap.
Verb
cheap
- past indicative analytic of ceap