treasure
Americannoun
-
treasures
plural
-
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)
-
treasures,
present (3rd person singular)
-
treasured,
past participle, past
-
treasuring
present participle
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
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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:
Bank of America’s Global Fund Manager Survey, released this week, offers a treasure trove of detail.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
Winterich’s own children, she told me, treasure a recording of their great-grandmother reading a story, because they would never otherwise have heard what she sounded like.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026
But with summer heat waves, the window between culinary treasure and golden puddle has never been narrower.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
In a kind of treasure hunt, Crouch gathers all the acorns on private lands.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
It was difficult to spot, so each piece felt like a treasure.
From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn
She assured the committee, “I love the United States of America. I consider it the privilege of my career to help preserve its treasures and serve the American people.”
From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2026
Here, as in all the other galleries, looking closely is key to finding hidden treasures.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
As part of this cultural diplomatic exchange, the UK is lending France one of the British Museum's prize exhibits - treasures from the Anglo-Saxon Sutton Hoo burial.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
Yet, while archaeologists have long focused on preserving these treasures, the people themselves were often forgotten.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
In exchange for garbage dump treasures, Clare provided the rat with mushrooms, freshly chopped and packed from his garden.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
My most treasured possession belonging to Dad are his movie scripts, leather-bound.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
That, combined with seas that have already risen over the past century due to human-caused climate change, puts California’s treasured coast in the oceanic crosshairs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
Hari Prasad Rimal returned to his home in the village of Devighat, hoping to recover treasured belongings -- not least some jewellery and cash.
From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026
Nora L. Rubel’s “Recipes for the Melting Pot” is an overdue examination of this treasured volume.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
She didn’t understand; if you prayed for the miracle you’d sell your most treasured possession for, you don’t care about anything else but waiting on that miracle.
From "Gone Crazy in Alabama" by Rita Williams-Garcia
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
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
If we could, we might agree to have all trauma wiped away, and have selective memory only treasuring the good parts of the past.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2022
She takes the paper and holds it tightly in her fist, treasuring it.
From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
