▪ I. budget, n.
(ˈbʌdʒɪt)
Forms: 5 bowȝette, -gett, 6 bo-, booget, bow-, bou-, boud-, budgette, (bowdshett), 6–7 bou-, bow-, boudget, 7 bugget, bu(d)git, 6– budget.
[ad. F. bougette, dim. of bouge leather bag; see bouge n.1, budge n.3 Cf. bouget.]
† 1. a. A pouch, bag, wallet, usually of leather. Obs. exc. dial.
| 1432–50 tr. Higden Rolls Ser. vii. 385 His bowȝettes [manticis] and caskettes. c 1530 Ld. Berners Arth. Lyt. Bryt. (1814) 62 A boget wyth leteers hangyng at his sadel bow. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 110 b, For a pourse or a bougette. 1611 Coryat Crudities 66 A certaine Pedler, hauing a budget of small wares. 1638 Heywood Wise Wom. iv. i, You whose wealth lyes in your braines; not in your budgets. 1677 Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 250 A Budget or Pocket to hang by their sides, to put their Nails in. 1783 Johnson in Boswell (1831) V. 116 When I landed at Billingsgate I carried my budget myself to Cornhill. 1808 Scott Marm. i. xxvii, Staff, budget, bottle, scrip, he wore. 1879 G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Wd.-bk., Budget, a satchel of bass-matting in which workmen carry their tools. |
† b. fig. Phrase,
to open one's budget: to speak one's mind.
Obs. (
Cf. 3.)
| 1548 Hall Chron. (1809) 100 Put it in your boget among lyes and fayned fables. 1642 Rogers Naaman 139 Infinite are the subtilties which are in the bugit of this traitor. 1681 Nevile Plato Rediv. 261 Most of the Wise..Men..are very silent, and will not open their Budget. 1847 A. Brontë Agnes Grey III. xiv. 219 There's Matilda..and I must go and open my budget to her. 1861 Trollope Tales of all Countries 133 At length Miss Jack was allowed to open her budget, and to make her proposition. |
† c. the hangman's budget.
Obs.| 1589 Pappe w. Hatchet (1844) 37 With an Habeas Corpus to remooue them from the Shepheards tarre-boxe to the hangmans budget. 1607 Dekker Wh. Babylon Wks. 1873 II. 270 A Broker and his wife that dropt out of the Hangmans budget but last day, are now eating into the Camp. |
2. In various
spec. uses:
† a. A leather or skin bottle.
Obs.| 1580 North Plutarch (1676) 574 Great Leather budgets filled full of fresh Water. 1653 Urquhart Rabelais ii. viii, The measure of twelve oyle budgets or butts of olives. 1786 tr. Beckford's Vathek 12 A water budget. |
b. A kind of boot in a carriage, adapted for carrying luggage. ?
Obs. Cf. basket 5.
| 1794 W. Felton Carriages (1801) I. 115 Boots and budgets are mostly understood as one article..that wherein the principal difference lies, is made with a loose cover, and is properly the budget, being made convenient for trunks. |
c. A leathern socket for retaining the butt of a cavalry carbine on a journey.
Cf. bucket n.1 4 b.
| 1816 Scott Old Mort. ix, The two dragoons..have their carabines out of their budgets. |
3. transf. The contents of a bag or wallet; a bundle, a collection or stock. Chiefly
fig.,
esp. of news;
spec. a long letter full of news.
| 1597 T. Morley Introd. Musicke 157 You shall haue the hardest in all my budget. 1692 R. L'Estrange Fables (J.) It was nature, in fine, that brought off the cat, when the fox's whole budget of inventions failed him. 1729 Swift Wks. 1841 II. 110, I read..the whole budget of papers you sent. 1784 Cowper Task iv. 23 But O th' important budget!..who can say What are its tidings? 1807 C. Wilmot Let. 15 May in Russ. Jrnls. (1934) ii. 241 Months have intervened since your delightful Budget reach'd these Realms. 1822 Hazlitt Men & Mann. Ser. ii. iii. (1869) 54 His budget of general knowledge. 1852 E. Ruskin Let. 16 Jan. in M. Lutyens Effie in Venice (1965) ii. 246, I am going out to tea..but have time to begin my weekly budget before I go. 1854 Thoreau Walden iv, Bed and bedstead making one budget. 1855 Trollope Warden xii. 185 The budget of news which was prepared for her father. 1867 De Morgan (title) A Budget of Paradoxes. 1868 C. M. Yonge Chaplet of Pearls I. xiv. 190 He gathered up the sense of the letters..and said, ‘This is a woful budget, my poor son.’ 1960 C. Day Lewis Buried Day ii. 30, I had a budget from her last week. |
b. A frequent title for a journal (
i.e. a budget of news, etc.):
e.g. Pall Mall Budget,
Young Folk's Weekly Budget.
4. a. A statement of the probable revenue and expenditure for the ensuing year, with financial proposals founded thereon, annually submitted by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on behalf of the Ministry, for the approval of the House of Commons. Sometimes put for the condition of the national finances as disclosed in the ministerial statement; also for the financial measures proposed. Hence applied to an analogous statement made by the finance minister of any foreign country; also to a prospective estimate of receipts and expenditure, or a financial scheme, of a public body, or to the domestic accounts (of income and its manageable expenditure) of a family or individual; also, the money available for domestic spending; so
on a budget, with a restricted amount of money.
[The Chancellor of the Exchequer, in presenting his annual statement, was formerly said
to open the budget. In a pamphlet entitled
The Budget Opened, Sir R. Walpole was compared, apropos of his forthcoming Excise Bill, to a mountebank opening his wallet of quack medicines and conjuring tricks.]
| 1733 Budget Opened 8 And how is this to be done? Why by an Alteration only of the present Method of collecting the publick Revenues..So then, out it comes at last. The Budget is opened; and our State Emperick hath dispensed his packets by his Zany Couriers through all Parts of the Kingdom..I do not pretend to understand this Art of political Legerdemain. 1764 Gent. Mag. XXXIV. 207 The administration has condescended..to explain the Budget to the meanest capacity. 1771–97 H. Walpole Mem. Geo. III, I. xvii. 250 The time was now come for opening the budget, when it was incumbent on him to state the finances, debts, and calls of Government. 1785 Hist. Europe in Ann. Reg. 168/2 On the 30th of June Mr. Pitt opened the national accounts for the present year, or what is generally termed the Budget. 1800 Pitt in G. Rose Diaries (1860) I. 278 Our first business..must be to prepare our budget. 1814 Wellington Let. in Gurw. Disp. XII. 98 The budget has..passed the Chamber of Deputies of the departments with trifling amendments. 1854 C. M. Yonge Heartsease I. i. vi. 92 Your budget? Are you good at arithmetic? c 1860 Wraxall tr. R. Houdin xi. 143, I resolved to effect an utter reform in my budget. 1870 Rogers Pref. to Adam Smith W. Nat. 20 England was crippled by foolish budgets. 1899 R. Whiteing No. 5 John St. iii. 18 To the Budget, then. Rent, 2s. 6d. a week; coal and candle, 6d. 1901 B. S. Rowntree Poverty p. ix, Chapter viii. deals with workmen's budgets, and especially the diet of the working classes. 1909 C. F. G. Masterman Condition of England iv. 98 The Blue Book..analyses over a thousand ‘family budgets’, each giving details of how much is spent weekly on butter, tapioca, or treacle. 1932 Listener 4 May 630/1 Wheat occupies a much smaller place in the housewife's budget than it once did. 1955 Oxf. Jun. Encycl. XI. 154/1 By 1951, 11% of the weekly budget, almost as much as the rent, was being spent on milk. 1959 Economist 4 Apr. 46/1 Those on a budget go to Florida in spring or late autumn, the ‘off seasons’ when charges there are reduced. |
b. attrib. or quasi-adj. Designed or suitable for someone of limited means; cheap.
| 1958 Woman 29 Nov. 6/2 This is just the drink to give party guests a glow—at a budget price. 1960 Housewife May 31/1 There are two restaurants catering for both luxury and budget tastes. 1969 Woman's Own 12 Apr. 27 Budget meals for the family. |
† 5. Her. = bouget:
cf. 2 a.
Obs.| 1766 Porny Heraldry Gloss., Budget, v. Water-Budget. |
6. (See mum-budget, a phrase enjoining silence.)
| 1598 Shakes. Merry W. v. ii. 7, I come to her in white, and cry Mum; she cries Budget, and by that we know one another. |
7. Comb. and
attrib., as
budget-bearer,
budget-full,
budget-maker,
budget-man. Also
budget account, an account opened with a department store, etc., offering the consumer revolving credit terms in return for regular payments; a charge account;
budget-bar (see
quot.);
budget-gut, the cæcum;
budget plan,
orig. U.S., a system of credit using the principles of a
budget account;
budget-trimmer, a man who prepares and fixes in position the leather fittings on coaches and carriages;
budget-wise, (
a)
adv. (
orig. U.S.), with reference to a budget; (
b)
adj., making full use of limited resources.
| 1969 Money Which? Sept. 120/2 Other alternatives included *budget accounts in department stores. 1979 F. E. Perry Dict. Banking 32/1 He gives the details of his usual outgoings to a bank which totals the annual cost, opens a budget account for the customer, and..thereafter the bank will debit the customer's ordinary current account and credit the budget account with a monthly sum representing one-twelfth of the annual cost... Also, a system of credit-trading operated by some big department stores by which the customer pays so much each month and in return obtains credit for a multiple of the sum. |
| 1794 W. Felton Carriages (1801) I. 48 The *budget Bar..is a straight timber, on which rests the boot or budgets. |
| 1684 tr. Agrippa's Van. Arts lxii. 184 Barefooted *Budget-Bearers. |
| 1614 Engl. Way to Wealth in Harl. Misc. (Mahl.) III. 238 Heaps and *budget-fulls in the counting-house. |
| 1594 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. 350 The blinde gut..is commonly called by some the sacke or *budget gut. |
| 1553 Act 1 Mary 3rd Sess. viii. §2 The Currier..*Budget-maker, and all other Artificers occupying the Craft or Mystery of Leather-buying. 1647 Haward Crown Rev. 26 Budget-maker: Fee,—6l. 1s. 8d. |
| c 1550 Wyll of Deuyll (Collier) 6 To euery of these pety *Bouget men of laws..a Bouget to put inne their sub penas. |
| 1934 Bartlett & Reed Methods of Instalment Selling & Collection vi. 110 The features of the *budget plan, as explained by the salesman, make the extra sale. 1955 Look 4 Oct. 56/2 Under a new Certified Automotive Service Budget Plan, he borrowed $254.10 to overhaul his engine and buy two new tires. 1984 Hitching & Stone Understanding Accounting! x. 162 Electricity charges are covered by a monthly budget plan. |
| 1881 Instr. Census Clerks (1885) 56 *Budget trimmer. 1909 Daily Chron. 4 Mar. 4/7 Wanted..Budget Trimmers, accustomed to head work. |
| 1952 T. Pyles Words & Ways of Amer. Engish vii. 189 Combinations with..-wise,..stylewise, *budgetwise. 1956 A. H. Compton Atomic Quest 196 The Metallurgical Project had by now grown until it was budget-wise the major part of the University's activity. 1958 Woman 22 Nov. 31/1 Budget-wise dishes. Family recipes..that are easy on the purse. |
Hence
budgetism.
| 1839 Blackw. Mag. XLVI. 105 The journalism, the budgetism, the parliamentaryism, of the 19th century. |
▪ II. ˈbudget, v. [f. prec. n.] † a. trans. To put in a ‘budget’ or wallet; to store
up (
obs.).
b. intr. To draw up or prepare a budget (
budget n. 4);
esp. for a certain supply or establishment, or
for a particular financial result.
| 1618 J. Taylor (Water P.) Pennilesse Pilgr. Wks. 1630 I. 125/2 We eate a substantiall dinner, & like miserable Guests we did budget vp the reuersions. 1884 Daily News 9 Oct. 4/6 An army of 6,000 men and a force of 7,757 police were budgeted for in 1883. 1893 Ibid. 24 Mar. 5/6 Although the Government of India are most unwilling to budget for a deficit. 1900 Westm. Gaz. 23 Mar. 2/2 Every Chancellor of the Exchequer budgets with the fear of the Irish members before his [eyes]. 1901 Ibid. 4 June 2/2 When Sir Michael Hicks-Beach Budgeted for 1901–1902. 1922 G. A. Greenwood England to-day 28 There..is the inevitable wear and tear of the home to be budgetted for. 1957 C. Morgan Challenge to Venus iv. i. 197 The small professional class do worry... They budget. They keep personal accounts. |
c. trans. To arrange (for) in a budget.
| 1890 Sat. Rev. 16 Aug. 191/1 General revenue, as budgeted for the years 1890–91, does not maintain the improvement of the previous year. 1909 D. Lloyd George in Daily Chron. 23 Oct. 1/1 The increment duty, which I budgetted to yield {pstlg}50,000 this year. 1944 Bath Wkly. Chron. & Herald 24 June 3/1 (Advt.), By budgeting my points to work in with the rest of the rations, we make out very well. |
Hence
ˈbudgeting vbl. n., the preparation of a budget; financial planning.
| 1945 G. Williams Women & Work iii. 88 Budgeting and shopping on a small income. 1951 Good Housek. Home Encycl. 30/2 The first essentials for budgeting are to keep weekly or monthly accounts. |