GeezerVison

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English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰ

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs

Proto-Italic *eks

Latin ex

Latin ex-

Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend-

Proto-Indo-European *-eti

Proto-Indo-European *(s)péndeti

Proto-Italic *pendō

Latin pendō

Latin expendōbor.

Proto-West Germanic *spendōn

Old English spendan

Middle English spenden

English spend

From Middle English spenden, from Old English spendan (attested especially in compounds āspendan (“to spend”), forspendan (“to use up, consume”)), from Proto-West Germanic *spendōn (“to spend”), borrowed from Latin expendere (“to weigh out”). Doublet of expend.

Cognate with Old High German spentōn (“to consume, use, spend”) (whence German spenden (“to donate, provide”)), Middle Dutch spenden (“to spend, dedicate”), Old Icelandic spenna (“to spend”).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /spɛnd/
- Audio (US): (file)
(US, pin–pen merger) IPA^(key): /spɪnd/
(Australia, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /spend/
Rhymes: -ɛnd

Verb

spend (third-person singular simple present spends, present participle spending, simple past and past participle spent)

(ambitransitive) To pay out (money).
Synonym: outlay

I've already spent hundreds of dollars buying dog chow.

He spends far more on gambling than he does on living proper.
- 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
  Then there came a reg'lar terror of a sou'wester same as you don't get one summer in a thousand, and blowed the shanty flat and ripped about half of the weir poles out of the sand. We spent consider'ble money getting 'em reset, and then a swordfish got into the pound and tore the nets all to slathers, right in the middle of the squiteague season.
- 2013 May 25, “No hiding place”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8837, London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 74:
  In America alone, people spent $170 billion on “direct marketing”—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year. Yet of those who received unsolicited adverts through the post, only 3% bought anything as a result.
To bestow; to employ; often with on or upon.
- [1633], George Herbert, edited by [Nicholas Ferrar], The Temple. Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green, […], →OCLC:
  I […] am never loath / To spend my judgment.
(dated) To squander.
to spend an estate in gambling
To exhaust, to wear out.
The violence of the waves was spent.
- 1603, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes, […], London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC:
  their bodies spent with long labour and thirst
To consume, to use up (time).
My sister usually spends her free time in nightclubs.

We spent the winter in the south of France.
- 1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond‎^[1]:
  During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant […]
- 1945 September and October, C. Hamilton Ellis, “Royal Trains—V”, in Railway Magazine, page 251:
  The last occasion on which the Kaiser [Wilhelm II] used this train was for an inglorious journey into Holland towards the end of the 1914 war. He spent the night in it at Eysden [Eijsden], while the Queen of the Netherlands and a hastily summoned Cabinet debated what to do with him.
- 2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4:
  Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame.
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:spend.
(dated, ambitransitive) To have an orgasm; to ejaculate sexually.
The fish spends his semen on eggs which he finds floating and whose mother he has never seen.
(intransitive) To waste or wear away; to be consumed.
Energy spends in the using of it.
- 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:
  The sound spendeth and is dissipated in the open air.
To be diffused; to spread.
- 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:
  The vines that they use for wine are so often cut, that their sap spendeth into the grapes.
(mining) To break ground; to continue working.

Derived terms

Translations

to pay out

Albanian: prish (sq)
Altai:
Southern Altai: ӱредер (üreder), тарадар (taradar)
Arabic: أَنْفَقَ (ʔanfaqa), صَرَفَ (ar) (ṣarafa)
Egyptian Arabic: صرف (ṣaraf)

Hijazi Arabic: صَرَف (ṣaraf)
Aramaic:
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܨܵܪܹܦ (ṣārēp), ܚܲܪܸܓ̰ (ḥarrij)
Assamese: খৰচ কৰ (khoros kor)
Azerbaijani: xərcləmək (az), sərf etmək
Belarusian: тра́ціць impf (trácicʹ), выдава́ць impf (vydavácʹ)
Bulgarian: харча (bg) (harča)
Catalan: gastar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 花 (zh) (huā)
Czech: utrácet impf, utratit (cs) pf
Danish: give ud, spendere
Dutch: uitgeven (nl), spenderen (nl)
Esperanto: elspezi (eo)
Estonian: kulutama
Finnish: kuluttaa (fi), käyttää (fi)
French: dépenser (fr)
German: ausgeben (de), spendieren (de)
Gothic: 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌵𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽 (fraqiman)
Greek: ξοδεύω (el) (xodévo)
Ancient Greek: ἀναλίσκω (analískō), δαπανάω (dapanáō)
Hindi: ख़र्च करना (xarc karnā)
Hmong:
White Hmong: please add this translation if you can
Hungarian: költ (hu), elkölt (hu)
Icelandic: eyða (is)
Ido: spensar (io)
Indonesian: mengeluarkan (id), membelanjakan (id)
Ingrian: hukata
Irish: caith
Italian: spendere (it)
Japanese: 消費する (ja) (しょうひする, shōhi suru)
Khmer: ចំណាយ (km) (cɑmnaay)
Korean: 쓰다 (ko) (sseuda), 소비하다 (ko) (sobihada), 들이다 (ko) (deurida)
Kumyk: сарп этмек (sarp etmek), харжламакъ (xarjlamaq), зая этмек (zaya etmek), тас этмек (tas etmek), ёкъ этмек (yoq etmek)
Lao: ຈ່າຍ (chāi)
Latvian: please add this translation if you can
Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
Malay: belanja (ms)
Marathi: खर्च करणे (kharca karṇe)
Polish: wydawać (pl) impf, wydać (pl) pf
Portuguese: gastar (pt)
Romanian: cheltui (ro)
Russian: тра́тить (ru) impf (trátitʹ), потра́тить (ru) pf (potrátitʹ)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: тратити

Latin: tratiti (sh)
Spanish: gastar (es), despender (es), expender (es), erogar (es)
Swedish: spendera (sv)
Tagalog: gastusin
Tamil: please add this translation if you can
Thai: จับจ่าย (th) (jàp-jàai), ใช้จ่าย (chái-jàai), ใช้ (th) (chái)
Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
Turkish: harcamak (tr)
Ukrainian: тра́тити impf (trátyty), витрача́ти impf (vytračáty), ви́тратити pf (výtratyty)
Venetan: spender (vec)
Vietnamese: tiêu (vi)

to wear out, to exhaust

Bulgarian: изразходвам (bg) (izrazhodvam), изчерпвам (bg) (izčerpvam)
Catalan: gastar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 花 (zh) (huā)
Dutch: opgebruikt raken
Finnish: kuluttaa (fi), käyttää (fi), kuluttaa loppuun, käyttää loppuun
German: verbrauchen (de), erschöpfen (de), aufzehren (de) (exalted)
Irish: caith
Italian: logorarsi (it), esaurirsi (it), placarsi (it)
Portuguese: gastar (pt)
Romanian: cheltui (ro)
Russian: тра́тить (ru) impf (trátitʹ), истра́тить (ru) pf (istrátitʹ), расхо́довать (ru) impf (rasxódovatʹ), израсхо́довать (ru) pf (izrasxódovatʹ)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: тратити

Latin: tratiti (sh)
Ukrainian: витрача́ти impf (vytračáty), ви́тратити pf (výtratyty), висна́жувати impf (vysnážuvaty), ви́снажити pf (výsnažyty)

to consume, to use up (time)

Arabic: (pass (time)) قَضَى (qaḍā)
Egyptian Arabic: قعد (qiʕid)
Aramaic:
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܡܲܥܒ݂ܸܪ (maˁḇir), ܢܲܦܸܩ (nappiq)
Assamese: কটা (kota)
Azerbaijani: sərf etmək, keçirmək (az)
Bulgarian: консумирам (bg) (konsumiram)
Catalan: passar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 度過 / 度过 (zh) (dùguò), 度 (zh) (dù)
Comorian:
Ngazidja Comorian: upvitsa
Czech: trávit (cs) impf
Danish: bruge (da)
Dutch: besteden (nl), doorbrengen (nl), spenderen (nl)
Esperanto: pasigi, travivi (eo)
Finnish: viettää (fi), kuluttaa (fi), käyttää (fi)
French: passer (fr)
German: verbringen (de)
Greek:
Ancient Greek: διάγω (diágō)
Hebrew: לְבַלּוֹת (levalót), לִנְפֹּשׁ (he) (linpósh) (holiday or vacation time)
Hungarian: tölt (hu)
Ido: spensar (io)
Irish: caith
Italian: passare (it), consumare (it), impiegare (it)
Japanese: 過ごす (ja) (すごす, sugosu), 暮らす (ja) (くらす, kurasu)
Korean: 보내다 (ko) (bonaeda), 들이다 (ko) (deurida)
Latin: dēgō
Lithuanian: leisti (lt) impf, praleisti pf
Norwegian: bruke (no)
Old English: āspendan, ādrēogan
Persian: سپنج کردن (sepanj kardan)
Polish: spędzać (pl) impf, spędzić (pl) pf
Portuguese: passar (pt)
Russian: проводи́ть (ru) impf (provodítʹ), провести́ (ru) pf (provestí)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: проводити

Latin: provoditi (sh)
Spanish: pasar (es), pernoctar (es) (the night)
Swedish: tillbringa (sv), ägna (sv), spendera (sv), lägga (sv), lägga ner (sv)
Turkish: harcamak (tr), geçirmek (tr)
Ukrainian: проводити (provodyty)
Welsh: treulio (cy)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Arabic: ^{(please verify)} صَرَفَ (ar) (ṣarafa), ^{(please verify)} أَنْفَقَ (ʔanfaqa), (time) ^{(please verify)} قَضَى (qaḍā)
Chinese:
Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 花 (zh) (huā), (time) ^{(please verify)} 度過 / 度过 (zh) (dùguò), ^{(please verify)} 度过 (zh) (dùguò), ^{(please verify)} 度 (zh) (dù)
Czech: ^{(please verify)} utratit (cs) (of money), ^{(please verify)} strávit (cs) (of time)
French: (time) ^{(please verify)} passer (fr), (money, etc.) ^{(please verify)} dépenser (fr)
German: ^{(please verify)} ausgeben (de), (time) ^{(please verify)} verbringen (de)
Hungarian: ^{(please verify)} költ (hu), ^{(please verify)} kiad (hu)
Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} menghabiskan (id), ^{(please verify)} membelanjakan (id), ^{(please verify)} membutuhkan (id)
Italian: ^{(please verify)} spendere (it)
Japanese: ^{(please verify)} 使う (ja) (tsukau), ^{(please verify)} かかる (ja) (kakaru), ^{(please verify)} 要する (ja) (ようする, yō-suru), ^{(please verify)} 消費する (ja) (しょうひする, shōhi-suru), (time) ^{(please verify)} 過ごす (ja) (sugosu)
Korean: ^{(please verify)} 쓰다 (sseuda) (sseuda (sseuda)), ^{(please verify)} 소비하다 (消費 하다, sobihada)
Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} bruke (no), ^{(please verify)} tilbringe (only time)
Romanian: ^{(please verify)} petrece (ro) (time), ^{(please verify)} cheltui (ro) (money, etc.)
Swedish: ^{(please verify)} göra slut på, (money, etc.) ^{(please verify)} förbruka (sv), (money) ^{(please verify)} spendera (sv), (time) ^{(please verify)} tillbringa (sv)
Woiwurrung: ^{(please verify)} loott koradin

Noun

spend (countable and uncountable, plural spends)

Amount of money spent (during a period); expenditure.
I’m sorry, boss, but the advertising spend exceeded the budget again this month.
- 2026 October 4, “Digger may lose $150m after Tom Cruise film bombs at the box office”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎^[2], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, sourced from Associated Press:
  It is a rough start for a movie that cost at least $125m to make. Reports have pegged the production budget closer to $150m, while the marketing spend is estimated at another $100m.
  (Can we archive this URL?)
(in the plural) Expenditures; money or pocket money.
- 2011 February 1, Ami Sedghi, “Record breaking January transfers: find the spends by club”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian‎^[3], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 October 2026:
  Total January spends by year
- 2011, “Council spending over £500”, in Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council‎^[4], archived from the original on 9 April 2012:
  The spends have been made by our strategic partners […]
Discharged semen.
Vaginal discharge.

Translations

amount spent

Bulgarian: харч (bg) (harč)
Esperanto: elspezo
Finnish: kulut (fi) pl
Italian: spesa (it) f
Portuguese: gasto (pt) m

expenditures

Bulgarian: разходи (bg) m pl (razhodi)
Finnish: menot (fi) pl
Norwegian: lommepenger pl
Portuguese: gastos (pt) m pl
Swedish: fickpengar (sv) pl

discharged semen

Finnish: mälli (fi), satsi (fi)
Portuguese: jato (pt) m

Anagrams

pends

Old English

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /spend/
Rhymes: -end

Verb

spend

singular imperative of spendan

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