expensive

Definitions

ex- (out) + pens (from Latin pendere/pensus, originally 'to weigh, weigh out') + -ive (adj.) = 'tending to weigh out (money).' In ancient Rome people paid by weighing out coins or metal, so 'to weigh out' came to mean 'to pay, spend.' Something expensive makes you weigh out a lot — it costs a great deal.

Why It Means This

The link from 'weigh' to 'cost' runs through expend and expense: ex- 'out' + pendere 'weigh' = weigh money out, i.e. spend it. Before coins were stamped, value was literally weighed, so paying meant weighing out metal. Expensive is the adjective at the end of that chain: the quality of demanding that a lot be weighed out.

Common Collocations

• 1.too expensive太贵了
• 2.very expensive非常昂贵
• 3.an expensive habit费钱的习惯
• 4.prohibitively expensive贵得令人却步

Example Sentences

• 1.

  This watch is too expensive for me to buy right now.

• 2.

  Living in the city center is much more expensive than in the suburbs.

• 3.

  They made an expensive mistake that cost the company millions.

Easily Confused

expensive vs costly — Both mean high-priced, but expensive is the everyday word for price (an expensive car). Costly often stresses the loss or consequence, including non-money costs: a costly mistake, a costly delay. You'd rarely call a small purchase 'costly.'