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Webster 1913 Edition

Parsimony

Par′si-mo-ny

,
Noun.
[L.
parsimonia
,
parcimonia
; cf.
parcere
to spare,
parsus
sparing: cf. F.
parcimonie
.]
Closeness or sparingness in the expenditure of money; – generally in a bad sense; excessive frugality; niggardliness.
Bacon.
Awful
parsimony
presided generally at the table.
Thackeray.
Syn. – Economy; frugality; illiberality; covetousness; closeness; stinginess. See
Economy
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Parsimony

P`ARSIMONY

,
Noun.
[L. parsimonia, from parcus, saving,literally close; Eng. park.] Closeness or sparingness in the use or expenditure of money; sometimes used perhaps in a good sense, implying due or justifiable caution in expenditure, in which sense it differs little from frugality and economy. More generally, it denotes an excessive caution or closeness; in which case, it is allied to covetousness, but it implies less meanness than niggardliness. It generally implies some want of honorable liberality.
The ways to enrich are many; parsimony is one of the best, and yet is not innocent, for it withholdeth men from works of liberality.

Definition 2024

parsimony

parsimony

English

Noun

parsimony ‎(usually uncountable, plural parsimonies)

  1. Great reluctance to spend money unnecessarily.
    • 1776, Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations:
      Parsimony, and not industry, is the immediate cause of the increase of capital. Industry, indeed, provides the subject which parsimony accumulates. But whatever industry might acquire, if parsimony did not save and store up, the capital would never be the greater.
  2. (by extension) The principle of using the least resources or explanations to solve a problem.

Synonyms

Related terms

Translations

See also

External links

  • parsimony in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • parsimony in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

Etymology

From Middle English parcimonie, from Middle French parsimonie, from Latin parsimōnia ‎(“frugality, sparingness”), from parsus, past participle of parcere ‎(“to spare”).

Pronunciation

  • Hyphenation: par‧si‧mony

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