The act of spending money, time, or energy, or the amount that is spent. It is often used in formal or financial contexts.
From Latin *expendere* ‘to weigh out, pay out’, plus the suffix *-ure* forming nouns of action. The idea is of something carefully weighed and then given out.
Hidden inside is the idea of ‘paying by weight,’ as if resources were grains on a scale. When we talk about ‘energy expenditure,’ we’re treating your effort like a budget you can actually run out of.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.