Meanings
cost1
present singular third person costs · participle present costing · participle past proscribed costed (see usage note) · past proscribed costed (see usage note)
- ditransitivetransitiveTo incur a charge of; to require payment of a (specified) price.
This shirt cost $50, while this was cheaper at only $30.
2 more examples
It will cost you a lot of money to take a trip around the world.
Thus the red damask curtains which now shut out the fog-laden, drizzling atmosphere of the Marylebone Road, had cost a mere song, and yet they might have been warranted to last another thirty years. A great bargain also had been the excellent Axminster carpet which covered the floor;[…].
1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter I, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [1933], →OCLC, page 0016 - ditransitivetransitiveTo cause something to be lost; to cause the expenditure or relinquishment of.
Trying to rescue the man from the burning building cost them their lives.
2 more examples
the packaging of home-delivered products now accounts for 30% of the solid rubbish the US generates annually, and the cardboard alone costs 1bn trees.
2019 November 21, Samanth Subramanian, “How our home delivery habit reshaped the world”, in The Guardianthough it cost me ten nights' watchings
1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i] - To require to be borne or suffered; to cause.
to do him wanton rites, which cost them woe
1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC1 more example
LUKE: "That little droid is going to cost me a lot of trouble."
1977, Star Wars - colloquialtransitiveTo cost (a person) a great deal of money or suffering.
That's going to cost you!
1 more example
I can give you the names, but it'll cost you.
cost2
plural costs
- countableuncountableAmount of money (or time, etc.) that is required or used.
We have to cut costs if we want to avoid bankruptcy.
3 more examples
The total cost of the new complex was an estimated $1.5 million.
The average cost of a new house is twice as much as it was 20 years ago.
According to this saga of intellectual-property misanthropy, these creatures [patent trolls] roam the business world, buying up patents and then using them to demand extravagant payouts from companies they accuse of infringing them. Often, their victims pay up rather than face the costs of a legal battle.
2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55 - countableuncountableA negative consequence or loss that occurs or is required to occur.
The army won the battle decisively, but at a cost of many lives.
2 more examples
Spending all your time working may earn you a lot of money at the cost of your health.
We simply do not have the option to return to a lower economic level, at least not a rational option. Peer polity competition drives increased complexity and resource consumption regardless of costs, human or ecological.
1988, Joseph Tainter, “Summary and Implications”, in The Collapse of Complex Societies, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 214
cost3
present singular third person costs · participle present costing · error unknown tag participle past costed · error unknown tag past costed
cost4
cost5
Cost6
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe property of having material worth (often indicated by the amount of money something would bring if sold)
nounvalue measured by what must be given or done or undergone to obtain something
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
cost · verb
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm
- Proto-Italic*kom
- Proto-Italic*kom-
- Proto-Indo-European*steh₂-
- Proto-Indo-European*sth₂éh₁yeti
- Proto-Italic*staējō
- Proto-Italic*staēō
- Proto-Italic*komstaēō
- Latincōnstō
- Medieval Latincōstō
- Old Frenchcoster
- Middle Englishcosten
- Englishcost
Inherited from Middle English costen (verb), borrowed from Old French coster, from Medieval Latin cōstō, from Latin cōnstō, from Proto-Italic *komstaēō. By surface analysis, con- (“together”) + stō (“stand”).
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →cost · noun
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm
- Proto-Italic*kom
- Proto-Italic*kom-
- Proto-Indo-European*steh₂-
- Proto-Indo-European*sth₂éh₁yeti
- Proto-Italic*staējō
- Proto-Italic*staēō
- Proto-Italic*komstaēō
- Latincōnstō
- Medieval Latincōstō
- Old Frenchcoster
- Middle Englishcostendeverb.
- Middle Englishcost
- Englishcost
Inherited from Middle English cost (noun), deverbal from costen (“to cost”, verb).
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →cost · verb
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm
- Proto-Italic*kom
- Proto-Italic*kom-
- Proto-Indo-European*steh₂-
- Proto-Indo-European*sth₂éh₁yeti
- Proto-Italic*staējō
- Proto-Italic*staēō
- Proto-Italic*komstaēō
- Latincōnstō
- Medieval Latincōstō
- Old Frenchcoster
- Middle Englishcostendeverb.
- Middle Englishcost
- Englishcostde
- Englishcost
Denominal verb from cost (“amount of money required or used”, noun).
Full word history & related roots →cost · noun
- Proto-Indo-European*ǵéwstus“to enjoy, taste”
- Proto-Germanic*kustiz“choice, trial”
- Proto-Germanic*kustuz“choice, trial”
- Old Norsekostr“choice, opportunity, chance, condition, state, quality”
- Old Englishcost“option, choice, possibility, manner, way, condition”
- Middle Englishcost
- Englishcost
From Middle English cost, from Old English cost (“option, choice, possibility, manner, way, condition”), from Old Norse kostr (“choice, opportunity, chance, condition, state, quality”), from Proto-Germanic *kustuz (“choice, trial”) (or Proto-Germanic *kustiz (“choice, trial”)), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵéwstus (“to enjoy, taste”). Cognate with Icelandic kostur, German dialectal Kust (“taste, flavour”), Dutch kust (“choice, choosing”), North Frisian kest (“choice, estimation, virtue”), West Frisian kêst (“article of law, statute”), Old English cyst (“free-will, choice, election, the best of anything, the choicest, picked host, moral excellence, virtue, goodness, generosity, munificence”), Latin gustus (“taste”). Doublet of gusto, and related to choose.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Old Norse
Full word history & related roots →cost · noun
- Latincosta
- Old Frenchcoste
- Middle Englishcoste
- Englishcost
From Middle English coste, from Old French coste, from Latin costa. Doublet of coast and cuesta.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek δαπάνη
- δαπάνη (dapánē)amount of money required or used
Arabic سَاوَى, كَلَّفَ
- سَاوَى (sāwā)to incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- كَلَّفَ (kallafa)to incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- تَكَلَّفَ (takallafa)to incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- تَكْلِفَة (taklifa)amount of money required or used
- كُلْفَة (kulfa)amount of money required or used
Basque kostatu, kostu
- kostatuto incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- kostuamount of money required or used
- kostunegative consequence or loss
Bulgarian стру́вам, ко́ствам
- стру́вам (strúvam)to incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- ко́ствам (kóstvam)to incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- чи́ня (čínja)to incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- разноски (raznoski)amount of money required or used
- сто́йност (stójnost)amount of money required or used
- разхо́д (razhód)amount of money required or used
- загуби (zagubi)negative consequence or loss
Catalan costar, cost
- costarto incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- costamount of money required or used
- despesaamount of money required or used
Chinese Mandarin 花費 /花费, 費用 /费用
- 花費 /花费 (huāfèi)to incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- 費用 /费用 (fèiyòng)amount of money required or used
- 成本 (chéngběn)amount of money required or used
- 花費 /花费 (huāfèi)amount of money required or used
Czech stát, náklad
- státto incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- nákladamount of money required or used
- cenanegative consequence or loss
- nacenitto calculate or estimate costs
- ocenitto calculate or estimate costs
- odhadnout nákladyto calculate or estimate costs
- vykalkulovat cenuto calculate or estimate costs
Danish koste, omkostninger
- kosteto incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- omkostningeramount of money required or used
Dutch kosten, kost
- kostento incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- kostamount of money required or used
Esperanto kosti, kosto
- kostito incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- kostoamount of money required or used
Estonian maksma
- maksmato incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
Finnish maksaa, maksaa
- maksaato incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- maksaato cause something to be lost
- aiheuttaato require to be borne or suffered
- tulla kalliiksito cost (a person) a great deal of money or suffering
- kustannusamount of money required or used
- hintaamount of money required or used
- kustannusnegative consequence or loss
- hintanegative consequence or loss
- hinnoitellato calculate or estimate costs
- arvioidato calculate or estimate costs
French coûter, couter
- coûterto incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- couterto incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- coûterto cause something to be lost
- couterto cause something to be lost
- coûtamount of money required or used
- fraisamount of money required or used
- coûtnegative consequence or loss
German kosten, Kosten
- kostento incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- Kostenamount of money required or used
- Verlustnegative consequence or loss
- Ausgabennegative consequence or loss
Greek κοστίζω, στοιχίζω
- κοστίζω (kostízo)to incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- στοιχίζω (stoichízo)to incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- τιμώμαι (timómai)to incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- κάνω (káno)to incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- κόστος (kóstos)amount of money required or used
- δαπάνη (dapáni)amount of money required or used
- τίμημα (tímima)amount of money required or used
- αντίτιμο (antítimo)amount of money required or used
- κόστος (kóstos)negative consequence or loss
Hawaiian uku
- ukuamount of money required or used
Hebrew עָלָה, עלות
- עָלָה (alá)to incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- עלות ('alut)amount of money required or used
Hindi मूल्य, दाम
- मूल्य (mūlya)to incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- दाम (dām)to incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- लागत (lāgat)to incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- दाम (dām)amount of money required or used
- क़ीमत (qīmat)amount of money required or used
- मूल्य (mūlya)amount of money required or used
Hungarian kerül, költség
- kerülto incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- költségamount of money required or used
- árnegative consequence or loss
Icelandic kosta
- kostato incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
Indonesian menghabiskan biaya
- menghabiskan biayato incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
Irish cosain, costas
- cosainto incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- costasamount of money required or used
Italian costare, costo
- costareto incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- costoamount of money required or used
- spesaamount of money required or used
- discapitonegative consequence or loss
Japanese 費やす, 掛かる
- 費やす (tsuiyasu)to incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- 掛かる (kakaru)to incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- 費用 (hiyō)amount of money required or used
- 代償 (daishō)negative consequence or loss
Korean 들다, 비용
- 들다 (deulda)to incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- 비용 (biyong)amount of money required or used
- 대가 (daega)negative consequence or loss
Latin cōnstō, valeō
- cōnstōto incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- valeōto incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- pretiumamount of money required or used
- sūmptusamount of money required or used
- impendiumamount of money required or used
- impensaamount of money required or used
Latvian maksāt, maksa
- maksātto incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- maksaamount of money required or used
- cenaamount of money required or used
- dārdzībaamount of money required or used
- maksanegative consequence or loss
Lithuanian kainuoti
- kainuotito incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
Malay harga, belanja
- hargato incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- belanjaamount of money required or used
- kosamount of money required or used
Māori utu
- utuamount of money required or used
Norwegian Bokmål koste, omkostninger
- kosteto incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- omkostningeramount of money required or used
- kostnadnegative consequence or loss
Persian ارزیدن, هزینه
- ارزیدن (arzidan)to incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- هزینه (hazine)amount of money required or used
- قیمت (qeymat)amount of money required or used
Polish kosztować, koszt
- kosztowaćto incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- kosztamount of money required or used
- cenanegative consequence or loss
Portuguese custar, custo
- custarto incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- custoamount of money required or used
- custonegative consequence or loss
Romanian costa, prețui
- costato incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- prețuito incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- costamount of money required or used
Russian сто́ить, расхо́ды
- сто́ить (stóitʹ)to incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- расхо́ды (rasxódy)amount of money required or used
- сто́имость (stóimostʹ)amount of money required or used
- изде́ржки (izdéržki)negative consequence or loss
- затра́ты (zatráty)negative consequence or loss
- цена́ (cená)negative consequence or loss
Scottish Gaelic cosg, cosgais
- cosgto incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- cosgaisamount of money required or used
- cosgamount of money required or used
- cosgaisnegative consequence or loss
- prìsnegative consequence or loss
- cosgnegative consequence or loss
Slovak stáť, náklad
- stáťto incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- nákladamount of money required or used
Spanish costar, costo
- costarto incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- costoamount of money required or used
- gastoamount of money required or used
- costaamount of money required or used
- costonegative consequence or loss
Swahili gharimu, gharama
- gharimuto incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- gharamaamount of money required or used
Swedish kosta, kostnad
- kostato incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- kostnadamount of money required or used
- kostnadnegative consequence or loss
Tagalog halaga, halaga
- halagaamount of money required or used
- halaganegative consequence or loss
Tamil செலவு
- செலவு (celavu)to incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
Thai ราคา, ค่าใชีข่าย
- ราคา (raa-kaa)to incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- ค่าใชีข่าย (khā chî cāy)amount of money required or used
Turkish fiyatı olmak, mal olmak
- fiyatı olmakto incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- mal olmakto incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- mal olmakto cause something to be lost
- masrafamount of money required or used
Ukrainian ко́штувати, сто́їти
- ко́штувати (kóštuvaty)to incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- сто́їти (stójity)to incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
- кошт (košt)amount of money required or used
- ва́ртість (vártistʹ)amount of money required or used
Urdu دام, قیمت
- دام (dām)amount of money required or used
- قیمت (qīmat)amount of money required or used
- لاگت (lāgat)amount of money required or used
Yiddish קאָסטן
- קאָסטן (kostn)to incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
Zulu -biza
- -bizato incur a charge of; to require payment of a price of
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with cost
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
cost. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cost
“cost.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cost. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cost,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cost.
Source: cost on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.