What does cost mean?
Cost is one of the most fundamental words in the language of money and exchange. As a noun, it denotes the amount of money needed to buy, produce, or maintain something, and by extension any sacrifice — time, effort, reputation, life — made to obtain an end, as in 'the human cost of war'. As a verb, it describes what something sells for ('the ticket costs fifty dollars') or the loss something brings about ('the mistake cost them dearly'). It is grammatically distinctive for its irregular past tense and participle, both simply 'cost', with 'costed' reserved for the narrow business sense of estimating prices. The word appears constantly in everyday phrases such as 'at no cost', 'the cost of living', and 'cut costs', making it essential vocabulary for commerce, economics, and ordinary conversation alike.
The amount of money needed to buy, produce, or do something; also a loss or sacrifice incurred in achieving something.
"They underestimated the true cost of the project."
In plural form, 'costs' often refers specifically to expenses incurred, especially legal expenses awarded in litigation.
To have a specified price; to cause the loss or expenditure of something.
"A new laptop can cost well over a thousand dollars."
Irregular conjugation (cost/cost/cost) except in the business sense of estimating prices, where 'costed' is standard.
The plural 'costs' typically refers to total expenses or outgoings, and has a specific legal sense of court-awarded expenses payable by a losing party.
"The company slashed production costs to stay competitive."
Cost comes from the Latin constare — 'to stand firm' — so when you ask what something costs, you're literally asking what it stands at.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cost
Cost derives from the Latin constare, meaning 'to stand together' or 'to be fixed at', formed from com- ('together') and stare ('to stand'). It entered English via Old French coster in the medieval period, initially as a verb meaning 'to require payment' before the noun developed from its past participle notion of 'what a thing stood at'. English cognates from the same Latin root include constant and constitute, which share the idea of standing firm or fixed.
Related word forms
How cost is actually used
Cost is an irregular verb: cost–cost–cost in the senses of pricing and causing loss. The regular form 'costed' exists only in business jargon meaning 'to estimate the price of'. In the sense of requiring payment, the verb is normally used with an impersonal subject ('It costs £10'), not a personal one.
Easily confused with cost
Coast means the land beside the sea; cost refers to the price or expense of something.