treasure means A surname. It carries an Arena rating of 1458, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, treasure ranks #402 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #1,706 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #2,503 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #4,506 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books.
treasure is pronounced /ˈtɹɛʒə/.
Why “treasure” is a great word
An accumulation of wealth or a person or object held in the highest, most affectionate esteem. From Middle English *tresour*, from Old French *tresor* ("treasury"), from Latin *thēsaurus* ("treasure, collection"), from Ancient Greek *θησαυρός* (thēsaurós, "treasure house"); the sense of a "valuable person" is attested from the 1530s. Unlike "thesaurus," which denotes a storehouse of information, or "asset," a neutral financial term, treasure implies a deep, emotional worth beyond utility. It is the cool weight of gold coins in a sunken chest, the brittle yellow of a love letter kept in a tin, or the quiet, steady presence of a lifelong friend—the private hoard against the relentless entropy of all things.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English tresour, from Old French tresor (“treasury”), from Latin thēsaurus (“treasure”), from Ancient Greek θησαυρός (thēsaurós, “treasure house”). Mostly displaced native Old English goldhord (See goldhoard) and Old English ġestrēon. Doublet of thesaurus.
name
- A surname.
- A female given name.
noun
- A collection of valuable things; accumulated wealth; a stock of money, jewels, etc.e.g.“It seems there was a worm that slept upon a pile of treasure, which it had zealously heaped up under a stone bluff.” — 1961, Norma Lorre Goodrich, “Beowulf”, in The Medieval Myths, New York: The New American Library, page 39:
- Anything greatly valued.e.g.“Ye shall be peculiar treasure unto me.” — 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 19:5:
- Anything greatly valued.; A term of endearment.
- Anything greatly valued.; The female genitals; pudenda.
verb
- To consider to be precious; to value highly.e.g.“Oh, this ring is beautiful! I’ll treasure it forever.”
- To store or stow in a safe place.e.g.“The rose-buds, withered as they were, were still treasured under his cuirass, and nearest to his heart.” — 1825, Walter Scott, The Talisman:
- To amass or collect together as though a treasure.e.g.“He seems to have carefully treasured up all the tales he heard, and he wrote and published them, under the feigned name of Gian Alesio Abbatutis, in his native dialect, not long before his death.” — 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume II, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 243:
- To enrich.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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