treasure

See also: Treasure

English

Alternative forms

• treasuer (chiefly archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English tresour, from Old French tresor (“treasury”), from Latin thēsaurus (“treasure”), from Ancient Greek θησαυρός (thēsaurós, “treasure house”). Displaced native Old English goldhord and Old English ġestrēon. Doublet of thesaurus.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹɛʒə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹɛʒɚ/, /ˈt͡ʃɹɛʒɚ/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛʒə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: treas‧ure

Noun

treasure (countable and uncountable, plural treasures)

1. (uncountable) A collection of valuable things; accumulated wealth; a stock of money, jewels, etc.
   • 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, chapter 20, in Treasure Island:

     "Now," resumed Silver, "here it is. You give us the chart to get the treasure by, and drop shooting poor seamen and stoving of their heads in while asleep. You do that, and we'll offer you a choice. Either you come aboard along of us, once the treasure shipped, and then I'll give you my affy-davy, upon my word of honour, to clap you somewhere safe ashore.

2. (countable) Anything greatly valued.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 19:5:

     Ye shall be peculiar treasure unto me.

   • 1640 July 30, [John Towers], “Upon the Sending of the First Volume of These Sermons to the Right Reverend Father in God, the Bishop of Peterborough, then My Diocesan, I Received This Letter”, in John Donne, XXVI. Sermons (Never before Publish’d) Preached by that Learned and Reverend Divine John Donne, […], London: […] Thomas Newcomb, […], published 1661, →OCLC:

     You have ſent me a Treaſure, and I would not ſhare time to tell you ſo, till I had ſomewhat ſatisfied the thirſt I had to drink down many of thoſe Excellent Sermons, which I have ſo long deſired: […]

   • 1681, Nahum Tate, The History of King Lear:

     I found the whole to answer your Account of it, a Heap of Jewels, unstrung and unpolisht; yet so dazling in their Disorder, that I soon perceiv'd I had seiz'd a Treasure.

   • 1946, Ernest Tubb, Filipino Baby:

     She's my Filipino baby she's my treasure and my pet
     Her teeth are bright and pearly and her hair is black as jet

3. (countable) A term of endearment.
   • 1922, Francis Rufus Bellamy, A Flash of Gold:

     "Hello, Treasure," he said without turning round. For a second she hesitated, standing in the soft light of the lamp, the deep blue of the rug making a background for her, the black fur collar of her coat framing the vivid beauty of her face.

Derived terms

Terms derived from treasure (noun)

• eight-treasure
• non-treasure
• one man's trash is another man's treasure
• one woman's trash is another woman's treasure
• the real treasure is the friends we made along the way
• treasure chest
• treasure flower
• treasure house
• treasure hunt
• treasure-hunter
• treasurelike
• treasure map
• treasure ship
• treasure trail
• treasure trove
• treasure-trove

Related terms

• treasury

 

Translations

collection of valuable things

• Afrikaans: skat
• Albanian: thesar (sq) m
• Antillean Creole: ja-lò
• Arabic: كَنْز (kanz)

  Egyptian Arabic: كنز m (kinz)

  Hijazi Arabic: كَنْز m (kanz)

  South Levantine Arabic: كنز m (kenz)

• Aragonese: tresoro
• Armenian: գանձ (hy) (ganj)
• Azerbaijani: xəzinə (az)
• Bashkir: хазина (xazina)
• Basque: altxor
• Belarusian: скарб m (skarb)
• Bengali: সম্পদ (bn) (śompod)
• Bulgarian: съкро́вище (bg) n (sǎkróvište), драгоце́нност (bg) f (dragocénnost)
• Burmese: ရတနာ (my) (ra.ta.na)
• Catalan: tresor (ca) m
• Cebuano: bahandi
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 珍寶／珍宝 (zh) (zhēnbǎo), 寶藏／宝藏 (zh) (bǎozàng), 金銀財寶／金银财宝 (jīnyíncáibǎo), 財富／财富 (zh) (cáifù)

• Czech: poklad (cs) m
• Danish: skat (da) c
• Dutch: schat (nl) f
• Esperanto: trezoro (eo)
• Estonian: aare (et)
• Finnish: aarre (fi)
• French: trésor (fr) m
• Galician: tesouro (gl) m
• Georgian: განძი (ka) (ganʒi), საგანძური (ka) (saganʒuri)
• German: Schatz (de) m
• Gothic: 𐌷𐌿𐌶𐌳 n (huzd)
• Greek: θησαυρός (el) m (thisavrós)

  Ancient: θησαυρός m (thēsaurós)

• Hebrew: אוֹצָר (he) m (otsár)
• Higaonon: bahandi
• Hindi: ख़िज़ाना f (xizānā), कोश (hi) (koś), निधि (hi) (nidhi)
• Hungarian: kincs (hu)
• Icelandic: fjársjóður (is) m
• Ido: trezoro (io)
• Indonesian: harta (id)
• Irish: taisce f
• Italian: tesoro (it) m
• Japanese: 宝 (ja) (たから, takara), 宝物 (ja) (たからもの, takaramono)
• Kazakh: қазына (qazyna)
• Khmer: កំណប់ (km) (kɑmnɑp)
• Korean: 보물(寶物) (ko) (bomul), 보배 (ko) (bobae)
• Kyrgyz: кенч (kenc)
• Lao: ສົມບັດ (som bat), ຊັບສົມບັດ (sap som bat)
• Latin: thesaurus m
• Latvian: dārgums m
• Lezgi: хазина (χazina)
• Lithuanian: lobis m
• Macedonian: богатство n (bogatstvo), благо n (blago)
• Malagasy: harena (mg)
• Malay: khazanah (ms)
• Maori: taonga, puiaki, puipuiaki
• Middle English: tresour, garisoun, gersom
• Mingrelian: განძი (ganʒi)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: баялаг (mn) (bajalag)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: skatt (no) m

  Nynorsk: skatt m

• Occitan: tresaur (oc) m
• Old English: goldhord n
• Ossetian: хӕзна (xæzna)
• Ottoman Turkish: خزینه (hazine)
• Pashto: خزانه (ps) f (xazāná), کونډال m (konḍā́l), ګنجينه f (ganǰína)
• Persian: گنجینه (fa) (ganjine), گنج (fa) (ganj)
• Plautdietsch: Schauz m
• Polish: skarb (pl) m
• Portuguese: tesouro (pt) m
• Réunion Creole French: zarlor
• Romanian: comoară (ro) f, tezaur (ro) n
• Russian: сокро́вище (ru) n (sokróvišče), драгоце́нность (ru) f (dragocénnostʹ), клад (ru) m (klad) (hidden)
• Samoan: ʻoloa
• Sanskrit: कोश (sa) m (kośa)
• Scottish Gaelic: ionmhas m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: бла̑го n, драго̀цено̄ст f, драго̀цјено̄ст f

  Roman: blȃgo (sh) n, dragòcenōst (sh) f, dragòcjenōst (sh) f

• Slovak: poklad m
• Slovene: zaklad (sl) m
• Spanish: tesoro (es) m
• Swedish: skatt (sv) c, rikedom (sv)
• Tagalog: kayamanan
• Tajik: ганҷ (ganj), ҷавохирот (javoxirot)
• Tatar: хәзинә (tt) (xäzinä)
• Thai: สมบัติ (th) (sǒm-bàt)
• Turkish: hazine (tr), define (tr)
• Turkmen: hazyna
• Ukrainian: скарб m (skarb)
• Urdu: خزانہ f (xizāna)
• Uyghur: خەزىنە (xezine)
• Uzbek: xazina (uz)
• Vietnamese: kho báu, châu báu (vi)
• Volapük: div (vo)
• Walloon: trezôr (wa) m
• Welsh: trysor (cy) m, amguedd m, amgueddau m pl
• Yiddish: אוצר m (oytser)
• Zazaki: xazina f, define f

any single thing one values greatly

• Bulgarian: драгоце́нност (bg) f (dragocénnost)
• Catalan: tresor (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 瑰寶／瑰宝 (zh) (guībǎo), 財富／财富 (zh) (cáifù)

• Finnish: aarre (fi)
• French: trésor (fr) m
• Georgian: ძვირფასეულობა (ʒvirpaseuloba), განძი (ka) (ganʒi)
• German: Schatz (de) m
• Greek:

  Ancient: θησαυρός m (thēsaurós)

• Hebrew: אוֹצָר (he) m (otsár)
• Hungarian: kincs (hu)
• Ido: trezoro (io)
• Irish: stór m
• Italian: tesoro (it) m
• Macedonian: драгоценост f (dragocenost)
• Maori: ohooho, māpihi, mounga, puiaki, puipuiaki
• Middle English: tresour
• Norwegian: skatt (no) m
• Old English: māþm m
• Ottoman Turkish: خزینه (hazine)
• Portuguese: tesouro (pt) m
• Romanian: comoară (ro) f
• Russian: драгоце́нность (ru) f (dragocénnostʹ)
• Slovene: zaklad (sl) m
• Spanish: tesoro (es) m
• Turkish: hazine (tr), define (tr)
• Vietnamese: của quý, vật quý, người yêu quý, người được việc
• Walloon: trezôr (wa) m
• Welsh: trysori (cy) m

term of endearment

• Catalan: tresor (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: poklad (cs) m
• Dutch: schat (nl) m
• Finnish: kulta (fi)
• French: trésor (fr) m
• German: Schatz (de) m
• Hungarian: drágám (hu), édesem
• Irish: stór m
• Italian: tesoro (it) m
• Norwegian: skatt (no) m
• Russian: сокро́вище (ru) n (sokróvišče)
• Spanish: tesoro (es) m
• Vietnamese: appropriate kinship term + yêu
• Walloon: trezôr (wa) m, cint-meye m

Verb

treasure (third-person singular simple present treasures, present participle treasuring, simple past and past participle treasured)

1. (transitive, of a person or thing) To consider to be precious; to value highly.

   Oh, this ring is beautiful! I’ll treasure it forever.

   • 1838, Eliza Cook, “The Old Armchair”, in Melania and other Poems:

     I LOVE it, I love it ; and who shall dare
     To chide me for loving that old Arm-chair ?
     I've treasured it long as a sainted prize ;
     I've bedewed it with tears, and embalmed it with sighs.

2. (transitive) To store or stow in a safe place.
   • 1825, Walter Scott, The Talisman:

     The rose-buds, withered as they were, were still treasured under his cuirass, and nearest to his heart.

3. (transitive, obsolete) To enrich.

Synonyms

• (to consider to be precious): cherish

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “to consider to be precious”): despise

Derived terms

Terms derived from the noun or verb treasure

• buried treasure
• intreasure
• national treasure
• treasure chest
• Treasure County
• treasure flower
• treasure house
• treasure hunt
• treasure map
• treasure ship
• treasure trove
• treasurable
• treasurer
• treasuress
• treasureless
• treasurelike
• treasury
• untreasure

Translations

consider to be precious

• Bulgarian: ценя (bg) (cenja)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 珍重 (zh) (zhēnzhòng), 珍視／珍视 (zh) (zhēnshì)

• Finnish: arvostaa (fi), vaalia (fi), säilyttää aarteena
• French: ^{(please verify)} garder précieusement , ^{(please verify)} priser (fr)
• German: schätzen (de)
• Hungarian: nagyra becsül (hu), sokra tart, becsben tart (hu), nagyra tart, féltve őriz
• Italian: apprezzare (it)
• Japanese: 重宝する (ja) (chōhō suru), 珍重する (ja) (chinchō suru)
• Romanian: prețui (ro)
• Russian: цени́ть (ru) impf (cenítʹ)
• Slovak: vážiť si
• Spanish: atesorar (es)
• Vietnamese: trân trọng (vi), yêu quý (vi)
• Welsh: trysori (cy)

Anagrams

• austerer, treasuer