sumptuary
1
9.9
- adjective
- /ˈsʌmp.tʃuˌɛr.i/
- Formal
- For example, in late Ming China, the fast-growing population, rapid urbanization, increased literacy, and economic development combined to provide the foundation for a fluid and flexible status system that was free of legal barriers and the old sumptuary laws.
- sumptuary laws
Examples
-
Later, when the Spanish took control of the Andes, they enacted sumptuary laws to control dress.
Academic text (2007) -
In ancient Rome, sumptuary regulations dictated what citizens could wear based on their social class.
-
How does wealth, or lack thereof, influence access to styles or materials, amount of clothing or sumptuary laws?
-
Although such legislation had its origins in European Sabbatarian and sumptuary laws, the term "blue laws" is usually only applied to American legislation.
Academic text (1998) -
Especially items of dress, once regulated under sumptuary laws, became common symbols of a coastal identity, worn by all segments of society.
Academic text (2009) -
Not that sumptuary laws and prohibitions against usury were ever very effective.
Academic text (1991) -
How one dressed began to be seen as the right of an individual, and this conviction helped gradually to erode sumptuary legislation.
Academic text (2011) -
They regarded such authorities as best serving a sumptuary approach toward liquor control, in which the goal of regulation was social control, not revenue.
Academic text (1996) -
At the same time, unmarried women were expected to look attractive in their efforts to gain a partner, so sumptuary legislation sometimes made allowances for accessories they might wear.
Academic text (2011) -
When Henri IV issued a sumptuary edict in the early fifteenth century forbidding excessive amounts of material in clothing, except for prostitutes and thieves, fashion changed overnight for fear of being associated with this underclass.
Academic text (1997)
Antonyms
How Restrictive
- Formal
27
8.9
- Formal
1
9.9
49
4.7
31
4.4
- Jargon
14
4.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
sumptuary = sumptu + ary
The combining form 'sumptu-' is not a standalone English word and the specialized legal/regulatory sense is not directly derivable by learners from familiar words (e.g., 'sum' or 'sumptuous').
Etymology
Sumptuary comes from the Latin root sumptus meaning 'expense' or 'cost', and it shares this root with the English word sumptuous, which means very costly or luxurious. So, a sumptuary law or rule is one that tries to limit spending and stop showy luxury.