parsimony

Noun

parsimony (usually uncountable, plural parsimonies)

1. (usually) With a negative connotation: great reluctance to spend money or other resources; miserliness, stinginess; (countable) an instance of this.
   • [T]he fauour of Princes and Magiſtrates noryſheth, augmenteth, and amplyfyeth all artes and ſciences by liberalitie, and extynguyſheth the ſame by miſerable couetouſnes and parcimonie.1561, Richard Eden, “To the Ryght Worshypfull Syr Wyllyam Garrerd Knyght, and Master Thomas Lodge, Aldermen of the Citie of London, and Gouernours of the Honorable Felowshyp or Societie, aswell of...
   • […] I will raile on him ſoundly: […] in ſome elaborate polliſhed Poem, which I will leaue to the world when I am dead, to be a liuing Image to all ages, of his beggerly parſimony and ignoble illiberalitie: […]1592, Thomas Nash[e], Pierce Penilesse His Supplication to the Deuill. […], London: […] [John Charlewood for] Richard Ihones, […], →OCLC, signatures D4, recto – D4, verso

   Synonyms:

   tightness

2. (archaic, usually) With a positive connotation: careful spending of money or other resources; frugality, thrift; (countable) an instance of this.
   • [T]he feeble and vveake complexion of our bodies; hath at al times ſerued as a ſoueraigne aduertiſement, to the holie life of ſobrietie and parſimonie.1593, [Charles Estienne], “For Infirmitie of the Bodie. Declamation, 10. That It is Better to be Sicke, then Alwaies Healthfull.”, in A. Mundy [i.e., Anthony Munday], transl., The Defence of...
   • Parſimony and not induſtry is the immediate cauſe of the increaſe of capital. Induſtry, indeed, provides the ſubject vvhich parſimony accumulates. But vvhatever induſtry might acquire, if parſimony did not ſave and ſtore up, the capital vvould never be the greater.1776 March 9, Adam Smith, “Of the Accumulation of Capital, or of Productive and Unproductive Labour”, in An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. […], volume I, London: […]...

   Synonyms:

   economy, sparingness, thriftiness

   1. (archaic, usually) The quality of not generously giving, showing, or using something intangible, such as emotion, praise, or words.
      • By this rememberance of that uſual parſimony in ovvners of VVit, tovvards ſuch as vvould make uſe of their plenty, I lament the fortune of others, and may vvith the Reader to congratulate mine; […]1650 January 12 (date written; Gregorian calendar), William D’avenant [i.e., William Davenant], “The Authour’s Preface to His Much Honour’d Friend Mr Hobs [i.e., Thomas Hobbes]”, in Gondibert: An...
      • [O]ne vvould think, that Parſimony in God's VVorſhip vvere the vvorſt huſbandry in the VVorld, for fear God ſhould proportion his Bleſſings to ſuch Devotions.1667; first published 1692, Robert South, “A Sermon Preached at the Consecration of a Chapel, 1667”, in Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions. […], volume I, London: […] J[ohn] H[eptinstall]...
   2. (archaic, usually) Chiefly in law of parsimony, principle of parsimony, etc.: the quality or characteristic of using the fewest facts or resources to explain a situation or to solve a problem.
      • Now it is manifest, that, against the assumption of a special principle, which this doctrine makes, there exists a primary presumption of philosophy. This is the law of Parcimony, which forbids, without necessity, the multiplication of entities, powers, principles, or causes; above all, the...a. 1857, William Hamilton, “Lecture XXXIX. The Regulative Faculty.—Law of the Conditioned, in Its Applications.—Causality.”, in H[enry] L[ongueville] Mansel and John Veitch, editors, Lectures on...
      • We used three search heuristics, Bayesian inference, maximum likelihood, and maximum parsimony, to construct phylogenies from unique COI haplotypes and used default parameters for analyses unless otherwise noted.2019 February 15, Boyd A. Mori [et al.], “A New Species of Contarinia Rondani (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) that Induces Flower Galls on Canola (Brassicaceae) in the Canadian Prairies”, in The Canadian...