thriftn.1
/θrɪft/, U.S. /θrɪft/ a. The fact or condition of thriving or prospering; prosperity, success, good luck; in early use sometimes = fortune (good or bad); luck: cf. thrive v. 1. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > [noun] > prosperity or success
speedc725
speedinga1300
exploitc1300
thriftc1305
chevance1393
withgangc1485
the world > existence and causation > causation > chance or causelessness > [noun] > fortune or luck
sitheOE
hapc1275
fortunea1300
timingc1300
thriftc1305
speeda1325
casta1400
venturea1450
issuec1475
luck1481
success1548
speeding1573
chancing1583
potluck1592
ship1851
joss1913
c1305 St. James 70 in Early Eng. Poems & Lives Saints (1862) 59 Sorewe him mote bifalle And liþer þrift vpon his heued.
1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. x. 105 And men þat Cunne mony Craftes..Þruft or þeodam with hem selden is I-seye.
c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 2017 Mahoun ȝyue þe euele þref.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 4439 He ferd ai wit so mikel thrift þat al was don als he wald scift.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Reeve's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 129 By my thrift [v.rr. þreft, thryft], yet shal I blere hir Iye.
c1412 T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum 386 Now good thrifte come vn-to þe, sone dere!
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 490/1 Thedam (or thryfte), vigencia.
1549 M. Coverdale et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. II. Phil. ii. f. v The entrie vnto immortall thrifte, is throughe losse of transitorie thynges.
?a1625 Lawes of Candy iv. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Hhh4/2 I could wish All thrift to his affections.
1679 J. Bunyan Fear of God in Wks. (1853) I. 485 Every grace is nourished by the Word, and without it there is no thrift in the soul.
b. Means of thriving; industry, labour; profitable occupation. Now dialect.
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society > occupation and work > [noun] > regular occupation, trade, or profession > livelihood
lifeOE
foodOE
livelihoodc1300
livingc1330
ploughc1390
purchasec1475
daily bread1526
being1570
governing1572
shift1572
supportation1576
thrift1579
livelihead1590
thrive1592
breadwinnera1614
subsistence1644
gain1655
bread and butter1691
through-bearing1705
bread1719
bread ticket1801
daily1817
lifehood1823
rice bowl1853
crust1916
1579 T. Lodge Protogenes 3 You are..a man of the letter little sauoring of learning, your giddy brain made you leaue your thrift, and your abuses in London some part of your honestie.
a1599 E. Spenser View State Ireland 85 in J. Ware Two Hist. Ireland (1633) To fall to thrift, as I have seene many Souldiers after the service, to prove very good husbands.
1612 T. Dekker If it be not Good sig. B3v Dread king of Ghosts, weele plye our thrift so well, Thou shalt be forc'd to enlarge thy Iayle of Hell.
1612 R. Churton (title) An Old Thrift newly Revived, wherein is declared the manner of Planting..and Husbanding Young Trees.
1721 A. Ramsay Ode to Mr. F—— 17 Poor Vulcan hard at thrift, Gets mony a sair and heavy lift.
1816 W. Scott Antiquary II. x*. 277 With her distaff..and her spindle..she plied..the old-fashioned Scottish thrift, according to the old-fashioned Scottish manner.
c. Prosperous growth, physical thriving.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > [noun] > good health > thriving
thriftc1230
verdour1447
proof1574
verdurec1595
thrivage1610
the world > plants > by growth or development > [noun] > growth or vegetation
thriftc1230
upgrowing1430
thrivage1610
vegetity1628
vigidity1628
vegetating1641
vegetation1665
increase1794
multiplication1849
the world > life > biology > biological processes > development, growth, or degeneration > [noun] > growth > vigorous growth
thriftc1230
overgrowing?1541
thrivage1610
thriving1707
c1230 Hali Meid. 37 His waxunge se lat & se slaw his þrifti [? þrift; v.r. þriftre].
1615 W. Lawson Country Housewifes Garden (1626) 22 Manie trees stand so thicke, that one could not thriue for the throng of his neighbours... Hence small thrift, gals, wounds.
1838 H. Colman 1st Rep. Agric. Mass. (Mass. Agric. Surv.) 49 Their shape..and good humor [would be] an essential to thrift.
1857–8 E. H. Sears Athanasia viii. 66 The outward bark..scaling off that the tree may expand with more thrift and freedom.
1874 2nd Rep. Vermont Board Agric. 1873–4 196 Any unusual indications of thrift in the herbage.
d. Growing-pains. dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > types of pain > [noun] > growing pains
thrifta1800
growing pains1810
a1800 S. Pegge Suppl. Grose's Provinc. Gloss. (1814) Thrift, the pain which young persons feel in growing. Lanc.
1886 Chester Gloss. (at cited word) What ails thee, pooin thi face? It's nowt bu' th' thrift that tha's getten.
1887 T. Darlington Folk-speech S. Cheshire Thrift, ‘thriving’ or growing pains.
2. † b. That which is saved (of something); savings. Obsolete.In quot. a1387 rendering Latin nucleus; sense intended doubtful.
a. Savings, earnings, gains, profit; acquired wealth, estate, or substance. archaic. (Cf. frugality n. c.)
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > possessions > [noun] > a person's collective property or substance
thingOE
chattela1240
cattlec1275
i-wonc1275
moneya1325
tilea1325
statec1330
thrifta1350
substancea1382
chevance1477
graith?a1513
estate1563
wortha1586
thrive1592
fortune1596
store1600
boodle1699
circumstancea1704
society > trade and finance > management of money > income, revenue, or profit > [noun] > personal income or acquired wealth
yearningeOE
livelihooda1325
livingc1330
thrifta1350
fanging1493
thrive1592
stipend1605
censea1637
revenue1653
private income1725
establishment1726
take1937
a1350 in G. L. Brook Harley Lyrics (1968) 46 In luthere lastes y am layn, þat makeþ myn þryftes þunne.
1436 Eng. Policy in Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 174 They bere the golde owte of thys londe, And souketh the thryfte awey oute of oure honde.
1508 W. Kennedy Flyting (Chepman & Myllar) in Poems W. Dunbar (1998) I. 215 Thou drank thy trift, sald and wedsett thy clais.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 280/2 Thrifte gayne, proufit.
1605 Play Stucley in R. Simpson School of Shakspere (1878) I. 195 He that drinks, or spends his thrift at dice.
1805 T. Holcroft Mem. Bryan Perdue III. 264 Our worldly thrift was more than equal to all our wants.
1893 C. Rossetti Poems (1904) 223/2 If much were mine, then manifold Would be the offering of my thrift.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > that which is left or remainder > [noun] > what remains in excess
surplusc1374
overplusa1387
thrifta1387
surplusagec1407
surplusagec1407
superplusage1436
overdealc1440
overcome1445
superplusa1450
superfluities1483
upperplus1578
super1626
reserve1646
overs1864
overmatter1887
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 15 Þe þrift of þe fatnesse drieþ himself þeryn.
1519 W. Horman Vulgaria xvi. f. 159 Mynse all the thryfte [L. compendium] of the flesshe: and mengle it with the spice.
3.
a. Economical management, economy; sparing use or careful expenditure of means; frugality, saving; †euphemistically, parsimony, niggardliness (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > retaining > sparingness or frugality > [noun] > thrift or economical management
housewifeship?c1225
husbandryc1390
thriftiness1552
thrift?1553
housewifery1557
housewifeliness1561
husbanding1591
mesnagery1653
managery1658
mesnage1667
economy1670
scrimping1835
?1553 Respublica (1952) v. iii. 46 As..bodylye foode is never founde to bee, so pleasaunte nor so goode, As whan fretting hongre, and thriste hathe pincht afore.
1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Kiv/2 Thrift, frugalitas atis.
1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. ii. 58 These people are well given to thrift and good husbandry.
1605 Bp. J. Hall Medit. & Vowes I. §82 So, deuotion is counterfaited by superstition; good thrift, by niggardlinesse.
1785 W. Cowper Task iv. 398 With all this thrift they thrive not.
1849 H. W. Longfellow Kavanagh 152 The air of comfort and plenty, of neatness, thrift, and equality, visible everywhere.
1876 J. R. Green Stray Stud. Eng. & Italy 26 The true cure for pauperism lies in the growth of thrift among the poor.
b. U.S. A savings and loan association.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > financial dealings > banking > [noun] > savings, building, or friendly societies
box club1728
building-society1848
mutual1869
slate club1888
susu1919
savings and loan1962
thrift1981
thrift institution1982
merry-go-round1989
1981 Economist 24 Jan. 28/1 This new charter for the thrifts, as they are called, has not been welcomed by all of them.
1982 Sunday Sun-Times (Chicago) 12 Sept. 65 In an effort to keep the funds, banks and thrifts will fire a fusillade of advertising.
4. A name given to various plants.† a. Said by Turner to have been a name for the Stone Orpine ( Sedum reflexum). Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Crassulaceae (stonecrop and allies) > [noun] > stonecrop
sengreenc1000
stonecropc1000
orpine?a1300
orval?a1300
mouse grassc1300
stonehorea1400
Crassulac1400
sedumc1440
thrift1538
prick-madam1542
mousetail1548
livelong1578
wall pepper1578
worm-grass1578
country pepper1597
jack of the buttery1597
pricket1597
stone-pepper1597
trick-madam1600
trip-madam1693
midsummer mena1697
rosewort1725
roseroot1731
live forever1760
ice plant1818
wall moss1855
Jacka1876
wall grass1882
thick-leaf1884
1538 W. Turner Libellus de re Herbaria at Sedvm Sedum minus puto esse herbam quam uulgus appellat Thryft, aut Stoncrop.
1548 W. Turner Names of Herbes sig. G.ij The seconde kynde is called in English thryft or stoncroppe.
1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 133 The lesse Semperuiuum, that we call thrift or great stone crop, groweth in walles, rockes, mudwalles,..it hath manye stalkes comming from one root.
b. The plant Armeria maritima (vulgaris), a well-known sea-shore and alpine plant bearing rose-pink, white, or purple flowers on naked stems growing from a dense tuft of grass-like radical leaves. Also called sea-pink, sea gillyflower, sea-grass, and ladies' cushion.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > sea lavender and allied flowers
moly1578
Our Lady's cushion1578
sea-grass1578
thrift1592
marsh lavender1597
sea spike-grass1597
statice1601
sea-cushion1629
sea-gilliflower1629
sea-thrift1706
sea-pink1731
lavender thrift1760
sea lavender1760
marsh rosemary1777
sea-daisy1838
sea-beet1845
cushion-pink1863
sea-lavender1865
1592 R. Greene Quip for Vpstart Courtier sig. B2 The weed they so wrangled for, was a little dapper flowre, like a grounde Hunnisuckle, called thrift.
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 483 Called..in English Thrift, Sea grasse, and our Ladies Cushion.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. 64/1 Thrift..is only set in Gardens to keep up Borders.
1814 W. Wordsworth Excursion i. 38 Daisy and resplendent thrift, Flowers straggling forth.
1856 ‘E. S. Delamer’ Flower Garden 104 Thrift... The English name is derived from its thriftiness in towns and confined situations, though its native home is on the grassy tops of cliffs whose base is washed by the waves.
1863 S. Baring-Gould Iceland 242 The thrift with its rose coloured flower heads was very abundant.
c. Hence extended to other species of Armeria: e.g. great thrift n. A. Cephalotes, of the Mediterranean region. plantain thrift n. A. plantaginea, found in Jersey; also to plants of allied genera or similar habit, as lavender thrift n. Statice Limonium. prickly thrift n. Acantholimon glumaceum, a pretty garden rock-plant.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > foliage, house, or garden plants > [noun] > other ornamental plants
milkwood1696
bignonia1719
Molucca balm1731
gunnera1789
lantana1791
aubrietia1829
zebrina1846
alocasia1858
billbergia1858
prickly thrift1866
bocconia1867
prickly rhubarb1895
prayer plant1951
1776–96 W. Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 320 Lavender Thrift. Sea banks near Walton, Essex.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 1147 Prickly Thrift, Acantholimon.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
a. (In sense 3.)
thrift club n.
ΚΠ
1899 Daily News 5 June 4/3 Round these ‘schools’ have grown thrift clubs, and benevolent societies.
thrift fund n.
ΚΠ
1902 Daily Chron. 27 Mar. 7/6 Unregulated shop clubs or thrift funds.
thrift society n.
ΚΠ
1897 Daily News 8 May 7/4 It [a mission] has established thrift societies [etc.].
b. (In sense 4.)
thrift edging n.
ΚΠ
1786 J. Abercrombie Gardeners Daily Assistant 95 Box and thrift edgings.
C2.
thrift-box n. a box or pot in which savings are put.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > place for keeping money > money box or chest > [noun] > for savings
saving box1691
thrift-box1777
savings box1825
thrift-pot1835
save-all1841
1777 J. Brand Observ. Pop. Antiq. 164 (note) A Thrift-Box..is put up against the Wall, and every Customer puts in something.
thrift-pot n. = thrift-box n.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > place for keeping money > money box or chest > [noun] > for savings
saving box1691
thrift-box1777
savings box1825
thrift-pot1835
save-all1841
1835 Fair-Day 82 You could break your thrift-pot..and get to the money.
thrift industry n. U.S. savings and loan associations as a whole.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > financial dealings > banking > [noun] > savings, building, or friendly societies > collectively
thrift industry1981
1981 Austral. Financial Rev. 1 May 18 When higher interest rates were paid, the thrift industry—building societies, savings banks, credit unions—tended to lose funds to competing institutions.
thrift institution n. U.S. a savings and loan association.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > financial dealings > banking > [noun] > savings, building, or friendly societies
box club1728
building-society1848
mutual1869
slate club1888
susu1919
savings and loan1962
thrift1981
thrift institution1982
merry-go-round1989
1982 Times 22 May 13/3 The United States House of Representatives..voted to shore up ailing thrift institutions.
thrift shop n. chiefly U.S. a shop at which second-hand goods (esp. clothes) are sold, usually in aid of charity.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > trading place > place where retail transactions made > [noun] > shop > second-hand shop
junk store1777
second-hand shop1795
rubbish shop1833
junk shop1838
thrift shop1947
second-hander1969
thrift store1972
1947 S. J. Perelman Westward Ha! (1949) xii. 153 A mound of shawls, brocades, bracelets, necklaces, purses, fans, and bric-a-brac resembling the contents of a thrift shop.
1976 Eastern Evening News (Norwich) 9 Dec. 2/5 Mums and toddlers and thrift shop, 76, Cadge Road, Community House, 2–4.
thrift store n. U.S. = thrift shop n.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > trading place > place where retail transactions made > [noun] > shop > second-hand shop
junk store1777
second-hand shop1795
rubbish shop1833
junk shop1838
thrift shop1947
second-hander1969
thrift store1972
1972 T. Ardies This Suitcase ix. 85 Someone had probably gone to thrift stores to put together his wardrobe... Even his socks were the wrong size.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
thriftn.2
The handle (usually wooden) of a mill bill, which is fixed in a mortise in the thick head of the handle.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > cutting tool > adze > [noun] > for dressing stone > for dressing millstones > handle of
thriftc1900
c1900 Circular of Bryan Corcoran Lim. Mill Bill in Wood Thrift..Iron Thrift, Steel Thrift.
c1900 Circular of Bryan Corcoran Lim. Model Mill Bill stone dressing machine..the thrift is set in a ball hinge... Like in ordinary hand dressing, the thrift is worked to give the blow.
1969 G. E. Evans Farm & Village xiv. 150 The mill~bill—it's a kind of steel pick or bill mounted in a thrift or handle, made of wych-elm or some other suitable wood.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online March 2018).
thriftv.
transitive. To save thriftily, to economize.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > retaining > sparingness or frugality > use sparingly or frugally [verb (transitive)] > manage thriftily or economically
housewife1632
mesnage1654
thrift1869
1869 R. D. Blackmore Lorna Doone I. ii. 8 Not that I ever bore much wealth, but because I had been thrifting it for this time.
1885 L. Levi in Pall Mall Gaz. 13 Jan. 6/2 The earnings of agricultural labourers..if well thrifted, leave a surplus.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
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n.1c1230
n.2c1900
v.1869