A Budget Was Originally a Leather Bag
A budget is a financial plan. The word meant a small pouch, and the British Chancellor still carries a box to prove it.
A budget is a plan of income and expenditure. The word began as a leather bag: Old French *bougette* is a small pouch, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer was said to *open the budget* when he took the nation's accounts out of his bag. The red despatch box carried to Parliament each year is what remains of that pouch.
- A financial plan. *The annual budget.*
- An allocated sum. *A marketing budget.*
- Inexpensive. *A budget hotel.*
- To plan spending. *Budget carefully.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | budget | A tight budget. |
| Plural | budgets | Departmental budgets. |
| Verb | budget | Budget for repairs. |
| Adjective | budget | Budget airline. |
| Adjective | budgetary | Budgetary control. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The budget was presented in March.British political calendar.
- We are over budget.Spending more than planned.
- A budget airline.Low-cost.
Budget vocabulary
- Deficit — spending exceeds income
- Surplus — income exceeds spending
- Balanced budget — the two match
- Contingency — money set aside for the unexpected
- Zero-based budgeting — every item justified from scratch each period
From Old French *bougette*, a small leather bag, a diminutive of *bouge*, from Latin *bulga*. The financial sense dates from the eighteenth century.
Why does the Chancellor carry a red box?
It stands for the original budget, the leather bag holding the nation's accounts. The tradition survives the technology.
Are budget and bulge related?
Yes. Both go back to Latin *bulga*, a leather bag, through different routes.