bargain

From Middle English bargaynen (“to bargain, make a pledge for sale”), from Anglo-Norman bargai(g)ner (“to bargain”), from Old French bargai(g)ner (“to bargain, haggle”), from Frankish *borganjan (“to borrow, lend”), from Proto-Germanic *burgijaną (“to borrow, lend”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰergʰ- (“to protect, secure”). Akin to Old High German boragēn, borgēn (“to look after, care for”) (German borgen), Old English borgian (“to borrow, lend, pledge”). More at borrow.

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: bägən, IPA^(key): /ˈbɑːɡən/, /-ɡɪn/
• (General American) enPR: bärgən, IPA^(key): /ˈbɑːɹɡən/

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• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)ɡən, -ɑː(ɹ)ɡɪn
• Hyphenation: bar‧gain

bargain (plural bargains)

1. An agreement between parties concerning the sale of property; or a contract by which one party binds himself to transfer the right to some property for a consideration, and the other party binds himself to receive the property and pay the consideration.
   • 1883, J. J. S Wharton, Wharton's Law Lexicon:

     A contract is a bargain that is legally binding.

2. An agreement or stipulation; mutual pledge.
   • c. 1596-97, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act III scene ii:

     […] And when your honors mean to solemnize / The bargain of your faith, I do beseech you, / Even at that time I may be married too.

3. An item purchased for significantly less than the usual, or recommended, price
4. A gainful transaction; an advantageous purchase.

   to buy a thing at a bargain

   At that price, it's not just a bargain, it's a steal.

   • 1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter I, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, OCLC 7780546; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., 55 Fifth Avenue, [1933], OCLC 2666860, page 0016:

     Thus the red damask curtains which now shut out the fog-laden, drizzling atmosphere of the Marylebone Road, had cost a mere song, and yet they might have been warranted to last another thirty years. A great bargain also had been the excellent Axminster carpet which covered the floor; […].

5. The thing stipulated or purchased.
   • c. 1603, William Shakespeare, Othello, Act V scene ii:

     If he say so, may his pernicious soul Rot half a grain a day! He lies to th' heart. She was too fond of her most filthy bargain.

• contract, engagement, purchase, stipulation
• (an advantageous purchase): steal

• rip-off

bargain (third-person singular simple present bargains, present participle bargaining, simple past and past participle bargained)

1. (intransitive) To make a bargain; to make a deal or contract for the exchange of property or services; to negotiate
   • c. 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part I:

     So worthless peasants bargain for their wives.

     United we bargain, divided we beg

2. (transitive) To transfer for a consideration; to barter; to trade

   They had to bargain for a few minutes to get a decent price for the rug.

• haggle

• Bagrian, braaing

• bargayn, bargayne, bargan, bargen, bargeyn, bargynne

From Anglo-Norman bargaigne, from bargaigner.

• IPA^(key): /barˈɡɛi̯n(ə)/, /ˈbarɡən(ə)/

bargain (plural bargaines)

1. A corporate agreement; a trade deal.
2. A pact; a concord; an agreement with legal force.
3. A project, venture or endeavour.
4. (rare) A item or product; a commodity.
5. (rare) A situation as an outcome of prior behaviour from others.
6. (rare) A promise or commitment; an obligation due to prior agreement.
7. (rare) An argument or dispute.

• English: bargain
• Scots: bargain

• “bargain(e (n.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-05-06.

bargain m

1. genitive singular of bargan
2. nominative plural of bargan