cheap

Where does the word "cheap" come from? It comes from Latin caupo, passing through West Germanic and Old English before entering English (1500s).

Cheap’s story begins in Latin: caupo meant “innkeeper, huckster.” A tavern-keeper or petty trader, the kind of Roman merchant Germanic peoples met along the frontier. By ancient, the word had taken hold in West Germanic as *kaupōn. Turned into a verb 'to trade', the source of German kaufen 'to buy'. From there it passed into Old English as cēap by medieval. A market or bargain, surviving in London's Cheapside and towns like Chipping Norton. It reached English by 1500s as cheap. Shortened from 'good cheap', a good bargain, to mean low-priced. Today, cheap means low in price; of poor quality.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · classical caupo "innkeeper, huckster", a tavern-keeper or petty trader, the kind of Roman merchant Germanic peoples met along the frontier.
2. Stage 2 · West Germanic · ancient *kaupōn "to trade", turned into a verb 'to trade', the source of German kaufen 'to buy'.
3. Stage 3 · Old English · medieval cēap "market, trade", a market or bargain, surviving in London's Cheapside and towns like Chipping Norton.
4. Stage 4 · English · 1500s cheap "inexpensive", shortened from 'good cheap', a good bargain, to mean low-priced.