Cheaping

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Selling or offering products at prices lower than usual to attract buyers
2. Providing items or services at a reduced cost compared to typical market rates
3. Offering merchandise cheaply in order to encourage purchases

Etymology: "Cheaping" comes from Old English "ċīeping," a word tied to the market and to the act of buying and selling. In Old English, a "ċēap" was a bargain or trade, and "ċīeping" named the business of trading at market, so the word's core idea was commerce rather than price itself. Over the centuries, that sense of marketplace dealing narrowed toward the notion of selling goods for too little, and the adjective now describes a seller who undercuts the proper value of what is offered. The word is also a close relative of "cheap," which likewise descends from the Old English "ċēap," meaning trade or price. Because "cheap" shifted in English from a neutral word for price toward one suggesting poor quality or meanness, "cheaping" carries a similar flavour, though its own meaning stays tied to the act of selling.

Synonyms: stingy, frugal, thrifty, miserly, parsimonious

Antonyms: generous, lavish, extravagant, spendthrift, openhanded