Etymology
Borrowed from Italian spese, plural of spesa (“expense, expenditure”), from Latin expēnsa (“idem”).[1][2] The word was borrowed into the German merchant's jargon of the 17th century, receiving a native plural ending -n.[1] Earlier attestations (15th, 16th century) exist in Upper German sources in varying forms such as despessa, spesa, spessa, speise, speiz.[1] Compare German Speise (“meal, foodstuff”), an earlier borrowing from the same Latin source.[1]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈʃpeːzən/, [ˈʃpeːzn̩]
- Hyphenation: Spe‧sen
Noun
Spesen pl (plural only)
- charges, costs and expenses incurred in the performance of one′s job that are reimbursed by the employer; (allowable, travel and entertainment/T&E) expenses
Alle angefallenen Spesen wurden ihm erstattet.- He was reimbursed for any expenses incurred.
1909 [1901], Thomas Mann, Buddenbrooks […] , Berlin: Deutsche Buch-Gemeinschaft, →OCLC, page 76; republished as Helen T. Lowe-Porter, transl., 1984:Nach Frankfurt wurden als Entschädigungssumme 25000 gezahlt: macht 595000, und so hätten die Dinge bei Vaters Tode gelegen, wären alle diese Spesen nicht im Laufe der Jahre durch rund 200000 Kurantmark Verdienst korrigiert worden.- Twenty-five thousand to Frankfort[sic], as compensation on the house, leaves five hundred and ninety-five thousand—which is what we should have had at Father′s death if we hadn′t partly made up for all these expenses through years, by a profit of some two hundred thousand marks current.
- 1947, Hans Fallada: Jeder stirbt für sich allein. Roman. 1st edition, Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin, p. 243 (GoogleBooks; retrieved October 12, 2015)
Translation:
2010, Hans Fallada; Michael Hofmann (translator): Every Man Dies Alone. 6th printing, Melville House Publishing, New York, p. 226 (GoogleBooks; retrieved October 12, 2015):
»Ich möchte noch um einen kleinen Vorschuss gebeten haben, Herr Kommissar. Nein um keinen Verschuss«, verbesserte er sich, »sondern um Geld für meine Spesen«.- “May I ask the inspector for a little advance first? No, not so much an advance,” Borkhausen corrected himself, “as some cash toward my expenses.”
- 1977, Anna Seghers: Das siebte Kreuz. Roman. 6th edition, Luchterland, Darmstadt/Neuwied, p. 66 (GoogleBooks; retrieved October 12, 2015):
»Gut. Zwei Beiträge werden vorausbezahlt. Und einer davon deckt ihnen die Spesen. […]«- “Good. Two articles will be paid in advance. One of them will cover your expenses. […]”
Declension
More information plural, def. ...
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Declension of Spesen [pl-only]
Derived terms
- außer Spesen nichts gewesen
- Fahrspesen
- Frachtspesen
- Geschäftsspesen
- Portospesen
- spesen (colloquial)
- Spesenabrechnung
- Spesenadel (colloquial)
- spesenartig
- Spesenbeleg
- spesenfrei
- Spesenplatz
- Spesenrechnung
- Spesenritter (pejorative)
- Tagesspesen
- Telefonspesen
- Transportspesen
- Verpackungsspesen
- Versandspesen
References
“Spesen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache