cost

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See also:Cost

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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FromMiddle Englishcosten,fromOld Frenchcoster,couster(“to cost”),fromMedieval Latincōstō,fromLatincōnstō(“stand together”).

Verb

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cost(third-person singular simple presentcosts,present participlecosting,simple past and past participlecostorcosted)

  1. (transitive,ditransitive)Toincurachargeof; to require payment of a (specified)price.
    This shirtcost$50, while this was cheaper at only $30.
    It willcostyou a lot of money to take a trip around the world.
    • 1913,Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes,chapter I, inThe Lodger,London:Methuen,→OCLC;republished inNovels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened,New York, N.Y.:Longmans, Green and Co.,[…],[1933],→OCLC,page0016:
      Thus the red damask curtains which now shut out the fog-laden, drizzling atmosphere of the Marylebone Road, hadcosta 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;[…].
  2. (transitive,ditransitive)To cause something to be lost; to cause the expenditure or relinquishment of.
    Trying to rescue the man from the burning buildingcostthem their lives.
    • 2019November 21, Samanth Subramanian, “How our home delivery habit reshaped the world”, inThe Guardian‎[1]:
      the packaging of home-delivered products now accounts for 30% of the solid rubbish the US generates annually, and the cardboard alonecosts1bn trees.
    • 1598–1599(first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”,inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies[…](First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard,andEd[ward]Blount,published1623,→OCLC,[Act II, scene i]:
      though itcostme ten nights' watchings
  3. To require to be borne or suffered; to cause.
    • 1667,John Milton,“Book I”, inParadise Lost.[…],London:[…][Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker[…];[a]nd by Robert Boulter[…];[a]nd Matthias Walker,[…],→OCLC;republished asParadise Lost in Ten Books:[…],London: Basil Montagu Pickering[…],1873,→OCLC:
      to do him wanton rites, whichcostthem woe
    • 1977,Star Wars:
      LUKE: "That little droid is going tocostme a lot of trouble. "
  4. Tocalculateorestimatea price.
    I'dcostthe repair work at a few thousand.
  5. (transitive,colloquial)To cost (a person) a great deal of money or suffering.
    I can give you the names, but it'llcostyou.
    That's going tocostyou!
Usage notes
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  • The past tense and past participle iscostin the sense of "this computercostme £600 ", butcostedin the sense of 'calculated', "the project wascostedat $1 million. "
Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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FromMiddle Englishcost,coust,fromcosten(“to cost”),from the same sourceas above.

Noun

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EnglishWikipediahas an article on:
Wikipedia

cost(countableanduncountable,pluralcosts)

  1. Amount ofmoney,time, etc. that isrequiredor used.
    The totalcostof the new complex was an estimated $1.5 million.
    We have to cutcostsif we want to avoid bankruptcy.
    The averagecostof a new house is twice as much as it was 20 years ago.
    • 2013June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”,inThe Economist,volume407,number8839,page55:
      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 thecostsof a legal battle.
  2. A negativeconsequenceor loss that occurs or is required to occur.
    Spending all your time working may earn you a lot of money at thecostof your health.
    The army won the battle decisively, but at acostof many lives.
Hyponyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Etymology 3

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FromMiddle Englishcost,fromOld Englishcost(“option, choice, possibility, manner, way, condition”),fromOld Norsekostr(“choice, opportunity, chance, condition, state, quality”),fromProto-Germanic*kustuz(“choice, trial”)(orProto-Germanic*kustiz(“choice, trial”)), fromProto-Indo-European*ǵéwstus(“to enjoy, taste”).

Cognate withIcelandickostur,GermandialectalKust(“taste, flavour”),Dutchkust(“choice, choosing”),North Frisiankest(“choice, estimation, virtue”),West Frisiankêst(“article of law, statute”),Old Englishcyst(“free-will, choice, election, the best of anything, the choicest, picked host, moral excellence, virtue, goodness, generosity, munificence”),Latingustus(“taste”).Related tochoose.Doubletofgusto.

Noun

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cost(pluralcosts)

  1. (obsolete)Manner;way;means;availablecourse;contrivance.(Can we add anexamplefor this sense?)
  2. Quality;condition;property;value;worth;awontorhabit;disposition;nature;kind;characteristic.
Derived terms
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Etymology 4

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FromMiddle Englishcoste,fromOld Frenchcoste,fromLatincosta.Doubletofcoastandcuesta.

Noun

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cost(pluralcosts)

  1. (obsolete)Arib;aside.
  2. (heraldry)Acottise.
    Coordinate terms:bendlet,garter,riband

Anagrams

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Catalan

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Deverbalfromcostar.

Noun

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costm(pluralcostsorcostos)

  1. cost
Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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FromLatincostum.

Noun

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costm(uncountable)

  1. costmary(Tanacetum balsamita)

Further reading

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Manx

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Noun

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costm(genitive singularcost,pluralcostyn)

  1. charge(monetary)

Derived terms

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Old English

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Etymology

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FromProto-Germanic*kust-,fromProto-Indo-European*ǵews-(“to choose”).

Akin toOld Saxonkostōn(“to try, tempt”),Old High Germankostōn(“to taste, test, try by tasting”)(Germankosten),Icelandickosta(“to try, tempt”),Gothic𐌺𐌿𐍃𐍄𐌿𐍃(kustus,“test”),Old Englishcystan(“to spend, get the value of, procure”),Old Englishcyst(“proof, test, trial; choice”),ċēosan(“to choose”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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costm

  1. option,choice;possibility
  2. condition,manner,way
    þæs costes þe―on the condition that

Declension

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Declension ofcost(strong a-stem)
Case Singular Plural
nominative cost costas
accusative cost costas
genitive costes costa
dative coste costum

Adjective

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cost

  1. chosen,choice
  2. tried,proven;excellent

Declension

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Declension ofcost— Strong
Singular Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nominative cost cost cost
Accusative costne coste cost
Genitive costes costre costes
Dative costum costre costum
Instrumental coste costre coste
Plural Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nominative coste costa,coste cost
Accusative coste costa,coste cost
Genitive costra costra costra
Dative costum costum costum
Instrumental costum costum costum
Declension ofcost— Weak
Singular Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nominative costa coste coste
Accusative costan costan coste
Genitive costan costan costan
Dative costan costan costan
Instrumental costan costan costan
Plural Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nominative costan costan costan
Accusative costan costan costan
Genitive costra,costena costra,costena costra,costena
Dative costum costum costum
Instrumental costum costum costum

Old French

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Etymology

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FromLatinconstare,present infinitive ofconsto(“I stand firm (at a price)”).

Noun

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costoblique singular,m(oblique pluralcozorcotz,nominative singularcozorcotz,nominative pluralcost)

  1. cost;financial outlay
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Romanian

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Verb

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cost

  1. first-personsingularpresentindicative/subjunctiveofcosta

Etymology 2

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Back-formationfromcosta

Noun

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costn(uncountable)

  1. cost
Declension
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declension of cost (singular only)
singular
ngender indefinite articulation definite articulation
nominative/accusative (un)cost costul
genitive/dative (unui)cost costului
vocative costule

Welsh

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Etymology

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Borrowed fromEnglishcost.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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costmorf(pluralcostau)

  1. cost
  2. expense

Derived terms

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Mutation

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Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal aspirate
cost gost nghost chost
Note:Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

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  • R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “cost”,inGeiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online(in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
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