Frugal

How to spell frugal

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce frugal

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does frugal mean?

1. adjectiveCareful and sparing with money or resources; economical and avoiding waste.

Frugal in a sentence

• His frugal habits let him save half his salary every month.

• They kept a frugal household, repairing clothes rather than replacing them.

Where does frugal come from?

Language of origin: Latin

Frugal comes from the Latin frugalis, meaning 'economical' or 'thrifty', which grew out of the noun frux (in its genitive form frugis), literally meaning 'fruit', 'produce', or 'value'. A Roman who was frugalis was, in the original sense, someone devoted to what was useful and worthwhile rather than to luxury, so the idea of restraint developed naturally from the notion of valuing real produce. The word reached English in the sixteenth century, partly through French frugal and partly straight from the Latin, keeping its sense of careful spending and modest living. The same frux root lies behind 'fruit' and 'frugivorous' (fruit-eating), a connection that can help the speller remember the single g and the plain -al ending. There is no doubled consonant and no hidden vowel cluster, so the trap is simply trusting the regular spelling rather than overcomplicating it.

How the word is built

• frug- (from Latin frux, frugis: fruit, produce, worth)
• -al (adjective suffix)