Definition of "sumptuary"

sumptuary

/ˈsʌm(p)t͡ʃʊəɹi/

adjective
comparative more sumptuary, superlative most sumptuary
1. Relating to expenditure or expense, especially on luxury goods.
  Quotations
  Among the trade goods mentioned are not only luxury items but also food produce, which contradicts the idea of exclusively sumptuary trade. Quite possibly these northern lords maintained sporadic trade with Guayaquil in pre-Hispanic times.
  1999, María Rostworowski de Diez Canesco, “Economic Models”, in Harry B. Iceland, transl., History of the Inca Realm, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, page 212
2. (law, historical)
  1. Chiefly in sumptuary law: of a law, regulation, etc.: intended to limit or restrain the expenditure of citizens in apparel, food, furniture, etc., or to forbid the use of certain articles (especially luxurious ones), to regulate the prices of commodities and the wages of labour, or to reinforce morals or social hierarchies.
    Quotations
    Some vvill vvonder, that Empſon and Dudley (the Royal Promoters then in prime) did not catch him [Nicholas Vaux, 1st Baron Vaux of Harrowden] by the Collar, or pick an hole in his Govvn, upon the breach of ſome ruſty ſumptuary Statute; the rather, becauſe lately the Earl of Oxford vvas heavily fined for ſupernumerous attendance.
    a. 1662 (date written), Thomas Fuller, “Northampton-shire”, in The History of the Worthies of England, London: […] J[ohn] G[rismond,] W[illiam] L[eybourne] and W[illiam] G[odbid], published 1662, page 298
    When Sunday came, it was indeed a day of finery, which all my ſumptuary edicts could not reſtrain. How well ſo ever I fancied my lectures againſt pride had conquered the vanity of my daughters; yet I ſtill found them ſecretly attached to all their former finery: […]
    1766, [Oliver Goldsmith], “A Proof that Even the Humblest Fortune may Grant Happiness and Delight, which Depend Not on Circumstance, but Constitution”, in The Vicar of Wakefield: […], volume I, Salisbury, Wiltshire: […] B. Collins, for F[rancis] Newbery, […]; reprinted London: Elliot Stock, 1885, page 37
    Out upon the folly of modern liberty, which has abolished sumptuary laws, and left us to all the horrors of our own inventions! Liberty of conscience is bad enough—the liberty of the press is still worse—but worst of all is liberty of taste in dress to common people.
    1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIV, in Romance and Reality. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], page 123
    Apparently, Henry VII visited the city [Bristol] in 1487, "taking care to entail a sumptuary fine on the citizens because their wives dressed too gaudily".
    2023 January 11, Stephen Roberts, “Bradshaw's Britain: castles and cathedrals”, in RAIL, number 974, page 55
  2. (by extension) Of or relating to sumptuary laws or regulations.

Definition of "sumptuary"

sumptuary

adjective

Quotations

Quotations