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• budget
  budget

  noun

  an estimate, often itemized, of expected income and expense for a given period in the future.
• Budget
  Budget

  noun

  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

budget

American  

[buhj-it] / ˈbʌdʒ ɪt /

noun

• budgets
  plural

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.

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adjective

1. reasonably or cheaply priced.

   budget dresses.

verb (used with object)

• budgets,
  present (3rd person singular)
• budgeted,
  past participle,  past
• budgeting
  present participle

1. to plan allotment of (funds, time, etc.).

2. to deal with (specific funds) in a budget.

verb (used without object)

• budgets,
  present (3rd person singular)
• budgeted,
  past participle,  past
• budgeting
  present participle

1. to subsist on or live within a budget.

budget ¹ British  

/ ˈbʌdʒɪt /

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; inexpensive

   budget 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

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verb

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

Budget ² British  

/ ˈbʌdʒɪt /

noun

1. 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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• budgeter
  noun
• prebudget
  noun
• rebudget
  verb (used with object)
• budgetary
  adjective
• nonbudgetary
  adjective
• prebudgetary
  adjective
• pro-budgeting
  adjective
• unbudgeted
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• budgets
  plural

Participles

• budgeting
  present
• budgeted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• budget
  simple
• budgets
  simple
• have budgeted
  perfect
• has budgeted
  perfect
• am budgeting
  progressive
• are budgeting
  progressive
• is budgeting
  progressive
• have been budgeting
  perfect progressive
• has been budgeting
  perfect progressive

Past

• budgeted
  simple
• had budgeted
  perfect
• was budgeting
  progressive
• were budgeting
  progressive
• had been budgeting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will budget
  simple
• will have budgeted
  perfect
• will be budgeting
  progressive
• will have been budgeting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of budget

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English bowgett, from Middle French, bougette, from bouge “bag” (from Latin bulga; see bulge) + -ette -ette )

Explanation

A budget is a sum of money set aside and divided up to cover particular expenses. Like allotting certain amounts for food, rent, movies, and manicures every month to make sure you don't run out of cash. From the Middle French bougette, the noun budget translated to “leather pouch” when it was first used in the early 15th century. Perhaps a leather pouch to hold gold coins? It wasn’t until 1733 that the word took on the more specific financial meaning it has nowadays. You can budget all sorts of things, including time, money, and energy. Every year, Congress tries to balance the federal budget — but that's no easy task.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

budget Budget budgets budgeted budgeting

British budget carrier easyJet has called off about 100 flights out of French airports on Saturday and Sunday because of a strike by cabin crew furious over repeated changes to their schedules.

From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026

Trump’s fiscal 2027 budget proposal, which seeks $1.5 trillion in defense spending, also calls for bolstering American drone production.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026

BBC Sport has been told that the transaction will have no impact on the club's approach to the transfer window, and that there is no new or separate transfer budget associated with the investment.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

In 2024, it had an operating budget of $269 million.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

The police agreed but pleaded short-handedness and tried for increased budget and sometimes succeeded.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

Meanwhile, an analysis by the Yale Budget Lab concluded that consumers are paying anywhere from half to the entire cost of the levies through higher prices, depending on the goods.

From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026

The prime minister and chancellor will face pressure to use the upcoming Budget on 28 October to ease the financial burden on households and businesses.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

The Congressional Budget Office expects them to rise to nearly 7% of GDP by 2036, at which point gross national debt is expected to be around 140% of GDP.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026

The Congressional Budget Office finds real wealth in the median American family up 131% between 1989 and 2022, and up 232% at the 25th percentile.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

The Budget Lodging clerk, who seems to have some familiarity with the housing nightmares of low-wage workers, suggests I keep trying motels.

From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich

Still, there is a risk of a higher result given the intense pressures on household budgets since the start of the year.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

"Hobby spending is a small amount of overall retail sales, but it's a good gauge of whether consumers have any money leftover in their budgets."

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

Burnham told BBC's Wake up to Money he will deliver an "accumulation of smaller things" that "combine to take the pressure down" on household budgets.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

He noted that for both sectors, there’s “concentrated supply, capacity that cannot flex quickly, order books extending into 2028, and the same hyperscaler budgets funding all of it.”

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026

Practically overnight the budgets of federal law enforcement agencies soared.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

That could lead to a nasty surprise for which they might not have budgeted.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

Large losses in the property and casualty segment were below Hannover Re’s budgeted expectation at 206.9 million euros, it said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 11, 2026

While some fans were lucky enough to nab $28 tickets, others begrudgingly spent more than they budgeted.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2026

Ultimately, it will dampen the very economic activity Congress budgeted to preserve.

From Barron's ● May 5, 2026

Speaker Day featured two speakers—usually small-time celebrities or small-time politicians or small-time academics, the kind of people who would come and speak at a school for the measly three hundred bucks the school budgeted.

From "Looking for Alaska" by John Green

The report also identified gaps in financial and budgeting knowledge among district leaders and school board members.

From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026

Mecham started in 2004 by sharing a budgeting spreadsheet as a broke grad student.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026

Parents have said a school uniform pop-up has helped ease the stress of budgeting for the new term.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026

The shift in their budgeting isn’t just about how much U.S. companies are spending on AI.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

Dorothy updated her classes with a unit called Wartime Mathematics, teaching students to apply arithmetic operations to household budgeting and wartime ration books and updating classic word problems with airplanes instead of cars.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

Related Words

• account
• allocation
• cost
• total