Added 9 October 2026
spend
/spɛnd/ verb
Latin root: expendere Wiktionary
verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about spend at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
noun
-
Amount of money spent (during a period); expenditure.
I’m sorry, boss, but the advertising spend exceeded the budget again this month.
- Expenditures; money or pocket money.
- Discharged semen.
Origin
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”).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)