Etymology

sumptuary

sump·tu·a·ry
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Today it means: Relating to expenditure or expense, especially on luxury goods. Full definition →

Latin sūmptuārius ← Proto-Indo-European *h₁em-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*h₁em-“to distribute; to take”
  2. Latin · derived fromsūmptuārius“of or relating to expenditure, sumptuary; person in charge of household expenses”
  3. English todaysumptuary

From Latin sūmptuārius (“of or relating to expenditure, sumptuary; person in charge of household expenses”) + English -ary (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Sūmptuārius is derived from sūmptus (“charge, cost, expense”) + -ārius (suffix forming adjectives); and sūmptus from sūmō (“to catch, seize, take; to acquire, get, obtain; to apply, employ, use; to consume, spend”) (from sub- (prefix meaning ‘below, beneath, under’) + emō (“to acquire, procure; to buy, purchase”) (from Proto-Indo-European *h₁em- (“to distribute; to take”))) + -tus (suffix forming action nouns from verbs). Cognates * Middle French sumptuaire (modern French somptuaire) * Italian sontuario * Portuguese suntuário * Spanish suntuario

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*h₁em- all →

consumepresumptive

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.