To Take Something for Granted Means to Assume It Given
A grant is money awarded for a purpose. The phrase about taking things for granted preserves the older sense of something conceded.
A grant is a sum of money awarded for a specific purpose, and to grant is to give or concede. *Taking something for granted* keeps the older meaning intact: to treat it as already conceded, and therefore not worth thinking about. The phrase is not about ingratitude in origin — it is about assumption. A grant differs from a loan in that it is not repaid, and from a prize in that it funds future work rather than rewarding past work.
- Awarded money. *A research grant.*
- To give formally. *Permission was granted.*
- To concede. *I grant you that.*
- Take for granted — assume. *Taken for granted.*
- Granted — admittedly. *Granted, it was late.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | grant | A small grant. |
| Plural | grants | Two grants. |
| Verb | grant | Grant permission. |
| Past | granted | Permission granted. |
| Agent | grantee | The grantee. |
- The university received a research grant.Funding.
- I grant that the timing was poor.Concession.
- We take clean water for granted.Assumption.
Grant, loan, subsidy, prize
- Grant — given for a purpose, not repaid
- Loan — must be repaid, usually with interest
- Subsidy — ongoing support to keep a price down
- Prize — a reward for work already done
- Bursary — a grant to a student, usually needs-based
Old French *granter*, a variant of *creanter*, to promise or assure, from Latin *credentare*, from *credere*, to believe or trust.
What does take for granted really mean?
To treat something as already conceded and therefore not worth examining. The sense of ingratitude came later.
Is a grant repaid?
No. That is what distinguishes it from a loan.