cheap

Meaning

Adj

1. Low or reduced in price.
2. Of poor quality.
3. Of little worth.
4. (slang) Underhand or unfair.
5. (informal) Stingy; mean; excessively frugal.
6. Trading at a price level which is low relative to historical trends, a similar asset, or (for derivatives) a theoretical value.
7. Taking little of system time or resources.

Noun

1. (obsolete) Trade; traffic; chaffer; chaffering.
2. (obsolete) A market; marketplace.
3. Price.
4. (obsolete) A low price; a bargain.
5. Cheapness; lowness of price; abundance of supply.

Verb

1. (obsolete) To trade; traffic; bargain; chaffer; ask the price of goods; cheapen goods.
2. (obsolete) To bargain for; chaffer for; ask the price of; offer a price for; cheapen.
3. (obsolete) To buy; purchase.
4. (obsolete) To sell.

Adv

Cheaply.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/t͡ʃip/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English cheep, chepe/chepen, chep, cheap/cheapien, chapien, from Old English cēap (“cattle, purchase, sale”), ċēapian (“to bargain, chaffer, trade”), from Proto-West Germanic *kaup (“trade, purchase”), *kaupōn (“to buy, trade”), from Proto-Germanic *kaupōną, *kaupijaną (“to buy, trade”), *kaupô (“inn-keeper, merchant”), from Latin caupō (“tradesman, innkeeper”). See also chapman. For sense evolution to "inexpensive," compare bargain or French bon marché.
Cognates
Cognate with Scots chepe (“to sell”), chape (“sale price”), North Frisian keap (“purchase”), West Frisian keap (“purchase, buy, acquisition”), Dutch koop (“buy, purchase, deal”), kopen (“to buy, purchase, shop”), Low German kopen (“to buy”), German Kauf (“trade, traffic, bargain, purchase, buy”), kaufen (“to buy”), Swedish köp (“bargain, purchase”), köpa (“to buy, purchase”), Norwegian Nynorsk kjøpa (“to buy, purchase”), Icelandic kaup (“purchase, bargain”), kaupa (“to purchase”); also borrowed as Finnish kauppa (“shop, trade”), Russian купить (kupitʹ, “to purchase”), Old Church Slavonic коупити (kupiti, “to purchase”), Bulgarian ку́пя (kúpja, “to purchase”), Serbo-Croatian купити (“to purchase”), Czech koupit (“to purchase”), Polish kupić (“to purchase”).