thrift
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See also: Thrift
English
Etymology
From Middle English thrift, thryfte, þrift, from Old Norse þrift (“thriving condition, prosperity”). Equivalent to thrive + -t.
Pronunciation
Noun
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, 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 Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :
- 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. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :
- 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
- (characteristic of using a minimum of something): frugality
Antonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
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
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
- ^ “thrift”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.