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definitions

budget

[buhj-it]
See more synonyms for budget on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. an estimate, often itemized, of expected income and expense for a given period in the future.
  2. a plan of operations based on such an estimate.
  3. an itemized allotment of funds, time, etc., for a given period.
  4. the total sum of money set aside or needed for a purpose: the construction budget.
  5. a limited stock or supply of something: his budget of goodwill.
  6. Obsolete. a small bag; pouch.
adjective
  1. reasonably or cheaply priced: budget dresses.
verb (used with object), budg·et·ed, budg·et·ing.
  1. to plan allotment of (funds, time, etc.).
  2. to deal with (specific funds) in a budget.
verb (used without object), budg·et·ed, budg·et·ing.
  1. to subsist on or live within a budget.

Origin of budget

1400–50; late Middle English bowgett < Middle French bougette (bouge bag (< Latin bulga; see bulge) + -ette -ette)
Related formsbudg·et·ar·y [buhj-i-ter-ee] /ˈbʌdʒ ɪˌtɛr i/, adjectivebudg·et·er, nounnon·budg·et·ar·y, adjectivepre·budg·et, noun, adjectivepre·budg·et·ar·y, adjectivepro-budg·et·ing, adjectivere·budg·et, verb (used with object), re·budg·et·ed, re·budg·et·ing.un·budg·et·ed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for budget

allocation, total, account, cost, allocate, calculate, means, funds, bulk, aggregate, statement, quantum, allowance, finances, resources, quantity, compute, apportion, predict, ration

Examples from the Web for budget

Contemporary Examples of budget

Historical Examples of budget

  • The budget for 1842 was produced under depressing circumstances.

    The Grand Old Man

    Richard B. Cook

  • The budget of the session of 1882 was presented by Mr. Gladstone April 24th.

    The Grand Old Man

    Richard B. Cook

  • The budget of the government introduced January 17th was unpopular.

    The Grand Old Man

    Richard B. Cook

  • But their budget of news was fairly prodigious, alike in range and quantity.

    In the Valley

    Harold Frederic

  • He had done enough, he said: "Let the man trudge it who has lost his budget!"

British Dictionary definitions for budget

budget

noun
  1. an itemized summary of expected income and expenditure of a country, company, etc, over a specified period, usually a financial year
  2. an estimate of income and a plan for domestic expenditure of an individual or a family, often over a short period, such as a month or a week
  3. a restriction on expenditure (esp in the phrase on a budget)
  4. (modifier) economical; inexpensivebudget meals for a family
  5. the total amount of money allocated for a specific purpose during a specified period
  6. archaic a stock, quantity, or supply
verb -gets, -geting or -geted
  1. (tr) to enter or provide for in a budget
  2. to plan the expenditure of (money, time, etc)
  3. (intr) to make a budget
Derived Formsbudgetary, adjective

Word Origin for budget

C15 (meaning: leather pouch, wallet): from Old French bougette, diminutive of bouge, from Latin bulga, of Gaulish origin; compare Old English bælg bag

Budget

noun
  1. the Budget an estimate of British government expenditures and revenues and the financial plans for the ensuing fiscal year presented annually to the House of Commons by the Chancellor of the Exchequer
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for budget
n.

early 15c., "leather pouch," from Middle French bougette, diminutive of Old French bouge "leather bag, wallet, pouch," from Latin bulga "leather bag," of Gaulish origin (cf. Old Irish bolg "bag," Breton bolc'h "flax pod"), from PIE *bhelgh- (see belly (n.)). Modern financial meaning (1733) is from notion of treasury minister keeping his fiscal plans in a wallet. Another 18c. transferred sense was "bundle of news," hence the use of the word as the title of some newspapers.

v.

"to include in a (fiscal) budget," 1884, from budget (n.). Related: Budgeted; budgeting.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper