sumptuary

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   regulating or controlling expenditure or personal behavior

   Sumptuary laws discouraging construction of large houses on small plots.

2. 2
   adj

   Relating to expenditure or expense, especially on luxury goods.

   Among the trade goods mentioned are not only luxury items but also food produce, which contradicts the idea of exclusively sumptuary trade. Quite possibly these northern lords maintained sporadic trade with Guayaquil in pre-Hispanic times.

From Latin sūmptuārius (“of or relating to expenditure, sumptuary; person in charge of household expenses”) + English -ary (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Sūmptuārius is derived from sūmptus (“charge, cost, expense”) + -ārius (suffix forming adjectives); and sūmptus from sūmō (“to catch, seize, take; to acquire, get, obtain; to apply, employ, use; to consume, spend”) (from sub- (prefix meaning ‘below, beneath, under’) + emō (“to acquire, procure; to buy, purchase”) (from Proto-Indo-European *h₁em- (“to distribute; to take”))) + -tus (suffix forming action nouns from...

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External links

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