English
thrift
Thrift comes from Old Norse þrift ‘thriving condition, prosperity’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *terp- ‘to satisfy’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*terp-‘to satisfy’root as named · steps between not traced
- Old Norsec. 800–1350þrift‘thriving condition, prosperity’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500thrift‘growth’
- Englishearliest quotation 1596thrift
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*terp-‘to satisfy’root as named · steps between not traced
- Old Norsec. 800–1350þrift‘thriving condition, prosperity’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500thrift‘growth’
- Englishearliest quotation 1596thrift
Earliest quotation: 1596, Edmund Spenser: “The rest, […] willing to fall to thrift ,…”
Formed from thrive + -t
Proto-Indo-European *trep- ‘to satisfy, enjoy’
Proto-Germanic *þrībaną ‘to seize, prosper’
Old Norse þrífa ‘to seize, grasp, take hold, prosper’
Middle English thryven ‘to acquire prosperity or fortune’
English thrive
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *terp- ‘to satisfy’
Today it means
noun The characteristic of using a minimum of something (especially money).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *terp- / thrift