sumptuary

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Myles had never worn such splendid clothes in his life before, and he could not but feel that they became him well Sir," said he, as he looked down at himself, "sure it is not lawful for me to wear such clothes as these In those days there was a law, known as a sumptuary law, which regulated by statute the clothes that each class of people were privileged to wear.

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Definitions (7)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. adjective Regulating or limiting personal expenditures.
  2. adjective Regulating commercial or real-estate activities: sumptuary laws discouraging construction of large houses on small plots of land.
  3. adjective Regulating personal behavior on moral or religious grounds: sumptuary laws forbidding gambling.

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Examples (50)

  • He passes by and is never noticed, because he has behaved himself, fulfilled his contracts, and asked for nothing The fallacy of all prohibitory, sumptuary, and moral legislation is the same. —  What Social Classes Owe to Each Other
  • It would act as a sumptuary law. —  Life of Adam Smith
  • I don't think the president will be perniciously active to-day--after such a night as we've had But in this, as in other instances when Mr. Colbrith's activities had figured as a factor, he reckoned without his host XVIII THE MORNING AFTER Ford was awake for all day, and was colloguing with Frisbie about the carrying out of the sumptuary order for the forcible camp-cleaning, when Penfield came with the request that the chief report at once to the president in the Nadia Tell him I'll be there presently," was the answer; and when Penfield went to do it, the interrupted colloquy was resumed You say the camp has already gone dry?" —  Empire Builders
  • Those countries seem to have found a new maximum of population, far inferior to the former standard, immediately after they ceased to be wealthy and flourishing Perhaps it was from this cause that the idea of sumptuary laws originated; for though, in some cases, the pride of being distinguished might occasion the sovereign to enact, or the higher orders of society to solicit them, yet they were always considered as tending to prevent ruinous extravagance. —  An Inquiry into the Permanent Causes of the Decline and Fall of Powerful and Wealthy Nations. Designed To Shew How The Prosperity Of The British Empire May Be Prolonged
  • This alone should commend the League to all men 160] It would be expedient so to define a "protectionist tariff" as to permit (_a_) the total prohibition of certain imports; (_b_) the imposition of sumptuary or revenue customs duties on commodities not produced at home; (_c_) the imposition of customs duties which did not exceed by more than five per cent a countervailing excise on similar commodities produced at home; (_d_) export duties. —  The Economic Consequences of the Peace
 

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Latin sūmptuārius, from sūmptus, expense, from past participle of sūmere, to take, buy; see em- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. = French somptuaire, from Latin sumptuarius, relating to expense, from sumptus, cost, expense: see sumpt.
 

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/ˈsəmptʃjuəri/
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