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Frugal Has Surprising Roots
Those who are frugal are unwilling to (lavishly) enjoy the fruits of their labors, so it may surprise you to learn that frugal ultimately derives from the Latin frux, meaning "fruit" or "value," and is even a distant cousin of the Latin word for "enjoy" (frui). The connection between fruit or value and restraint was first made in Latin; the Middle French word that English speakers eventually adopted as frugal came from the Latin adjective frugalis, a frux descendant meaning "virtuous" or "frugal." Although English speakers adopted frugal by the 16th century, they were already lavishly supplied with earlier coinages to denote the idea, including sparing and thrifty.
Synonyms
sparing, frugal, thrifty, economical mean careful in the use of one's money or resources.
sparing stresses abstention and restraint.
frugal implies absence of luxury and simplicity of lifestyle.
thrifty stresses good management and industry.
economical stresses prudent management, lack of wastefulness, and use of things to their best advantage.
Examples of frugal in a Sentence
Word History
borrowed from Middle French & Late Latin; Middle French, borrowed from Late Latin frūgālis "not given to excess, temperate, sober, simple" (early Medieval Latin also "thrifty, sparing"), back-formation from Latin frūgālior, frūgālissimus and frūgāliter, comparative and superlative degrees and adverbial derivative (with the suffix -āl- -al entry 1) of frūgī "(of people, especially slaves) having merit or worth, deserving, sober, thrifty," "(of things) moderate, sober," predicative dative of frūg-, frūx (usually in plural) "edible produce of plants, fruit, crops, grain," root noun from the base of fruor, fruī "to enjoy the produce or proceeds of, derive advantage from" — more at fruit entry 1
Note: The dative noun frūgī must originally have been used with a modifying adjective in a construction such as esse frūgī bonae "to be capable of giving a good harvest or good return," first applied to things, then extended to persons.
1542, in the meaning defined above
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Cite this Entry
“Frugal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/frugal. Accessed 19 Nov. 2024.
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More from Merriam-Webster on frugal
Nglish: Translation of frugal for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of frugal for Arabic Speakers
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