budget

 
Pronunciation: /ˈbʌdʒɪt/

noun

  • 1an estimate of income and expenditure for a set period of time: keep within the household budget
  • (Budget) an annual or other regular estimate of national revenue and expenditure put forward by a finance minister: the government had put forward the biggest tax increases for any Budget in history
  • the amount of money needed or available for a purpose: they have a limited budget
  • 2 archaic a quantity of written or printed material.

verb (budgets, budgeting, budgeted)

[no object]
  • allow or provide a particular amount of money in a budget: the university is budgeting for a deficit
  • [with object] provide (a sum of money) for a particular purpose from a budget: the council proposes to budget £100,000 to provide grants (as adjective budgeted) a budgeted figure of £31,000

adjective

[attributive]
  • inexpensive: a budget guitar

Phrases

on a budget

with a restricted amount of money: we’re travelling on a budget

Derivatives

budgetary

adjective

Origin:

late Middle English: from Old French bougette, diminutive of bouge 'leather bag', from Latin bulga 'leather bag, knapsack', of Gaulish origin. Compare with bulge. The word originally meant a pouch or wallet, and later its contents. In the mid 18th century, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in presenting his annual statement, was said ‘to open the budget’. In the late 19th century the use of the term was extended from governmental to other finances

Spelling rule

Do not double the final consonant when adding endings which begin with a vowel to a word which ends in a vowel plus a consonant if the stress is not at the end of the word (as in target): (budgets, budgeting, budgeted).