treasure
Americannoun
-
wealth or riches stored or accumulated, especially in the form of precious metals, money, jewels, or plate.
- Synonyms:
- hoard
-
wealth, rich materials, or valuable things.
-
any thing or person greatly valued or highly prized.
This book was his chief treasure.
verb (used with object)
noun
-
wealth and riches, usually hoarded, esp in the form of money, precious metals, or gems
-
a thing or person that is highly prized or valued
verb
-
to prize highly as valuable, rare, or costly
-
to store up and save; hoard
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
treasuresimple
-
treasuressimple
-
have treasuredperfect
-
has treasuredperfect
-
am treasuringprogressive
-
are treasuringprogressive
-
is treasuringprogressive
-
have been treasuringperfect progressive
-
has been treasuringperfect progressive
Past
-
treasuredsimple
-
had treasuredperfect
-
was treasuringprogressive
-
were treasuringprogressive
-
had been treasuringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of treasure
First recorded in 1125–75; (for the noun) Middle English tresor, from Old French, from Gallo-Romance trēsaurus (unrecorded), from Latin thēsaurus “storehouse, hoard” ( see thesaurus); verb derivative of the noun
Explanation
Treasure is usually associated with riches — gold, jewels, doubloons — the stuff contained in pirates' treasure chests. However, you can also treasure things with purely sentimental value — like your pet rock or your blankie. The English word treasure comes from the Old French tresor, both meaning "something of great worth." Still, the French tresor sounds so much more luxurious than the English treasure, and that form is the chosen name for an expensive perfume. Worth is relative, though. Going back further, we find that the Latin word for treasury is thesaurus, which is what a book of synonyms is called. Guess the ancients always understood the richness — and worth — of words.
Vocabulary lists containing treasure
Words Every Pirate Should Know
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Mother's Day Words: What Mothers Do
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Beowulf vocabulary
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But on a remaining wall, members discovered a hidden treasure.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
Knoll says she doesn’t want “things to feel didactic,” but concedes that class divides offer a treasure trove of stories.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
He said "the beauty of her" was that, though "her voice is an international, global treasure", she was "happy singing in a pub".
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
Moore said the treasure is the only known copy of the Declaration taken by military action.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
“I don’t think it’s a treasure map after all. Looks like a used wrapper from a fast-food burger.”
From "Mystery Map (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #3)" by Franklin W. Dixon
And for 86 minutes, it assures us that some of the greatest cinematic treasures are also blissfully conflict-free.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026
"I think most people will not know about the real UK treasures that are hiding in plain sight," she said.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
The deposit, reputed to be the largest in Africa, is one of the Democratic Republic of Congo's hidden treasures -- which are at the centre of a global race for critical minerals.
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
Sometimes it takes a visitor or six million to remind folks of treasures in their own backyard.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2026
He loved the green plastic laundry basket and finding beach treasures.
From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn
But like all magic tricks, everything was not quite as it seemed and moments later the treasured items returned.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
When my clients were displaced, they had treasured photos of deceased loved ones destroyed, lifesaving medication thrown away, and bikes and uniforms needed for work tossed into trash trucks.
From Slate ● Jun. 27, 2026
Buffett, 95, has helped raise more than $50 million for Glide, a treasured cause of his first wife, Susie Buffett, who died in 2004.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
“Above all else, Donald treasured his faith and the people he loved,” it continued.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026
Step aside, thinking maybe this was some last-minute love desperate to make itself known before it couldn’t see and might forget the sleeping face it treasured.
From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison
A mother who was diagnosed with incurable brain cancer says she is treasuring every moment with her twin boys as she may not live long enough to see them start school.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
By the end, DuVernay has, with editor Spencer Averick’s fleet stitching, massaged her adaptation’s various threads into a collage of insight and emotion worth treasuring.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 8, 2023
Fill each pear with a scoop of ice cream, drizzle with honey, top with several grinds of pepper and eat immediately while treasuring the trees, the bees, summertime, life in general — all of it.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 1, 2023
The two are honorary starters for Sunday’s race - “Kurt will wave the green flag two-thousandths of a second after Ricky,” raceway president Kerry Tharp quipped - and will keep treasuring their moment.
From Washington Times ● May 12, 2023
Vincent is treasuring every minute with his brother.
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
