Everyone knows what consumption is in its everyday sense. After all, even minor citizens make purchases, thereby increasing the expenses of their family. But if you look closely at this word and take an interest in its interpretation in the dictionary, it turns out that it also carries several additional shades of meaning. Those who will be interested in this linguistic analysis is intended.
Dictionary word
Answering the question of what consumption is, the dictionary provides several interpretations. They look like this:
- the same as spending;
- an action corresponding to the meaning of the verb "spend";
- loss of any funds or supplies resulting from their use.
Examples of the use of the word in accordance with the specified meaning:
Example 1. Oleg sadly thought that this time everything would be as usual: his wife would come, demand money for expenses, he would give her everything that was. And again she will not be enough.
Example 2. The nutritionist expressed his doubts that there are such nutritional conditions that allow the body to make the entire protein expenditure exclusively at the expense of food proteins, preserving intact their own tissue forms.
Since the definition of the word refers to the verb “spend”, to understand that this is a expenditure, it would be advisable to consider its interpretation.
The meaning of the verb
According to the explanations given in the dictionary, it has two interpretations.
The first of them is to use, spend on something.
Example 1. Over the past few months, Sergey received and, without hesitation, immediately spent large sums of money, which, of course, did not affect his budget in the best way.
Example 2. It was necessary to go on a hike very early, it was required to take an impressive supply of water with you, which would have to be spent as carefully as possible.
The second option is conversational and says that "spend" - it means "consume to complete the work."
Example 1. This small car consumes only 5 liters per 100 km, but, given the distance to be traveled, the fuel will have to be spent not so little.
Example 2. When preparing a business plan, which must be submitted to the bank for a loan, it turned out that for the manufacture of these products it is necessary, among other things, to expend a large amount of electricity, water and heat.
Another meaning of the noun
Regarding what consumption is, the dictionary also says that this is a quantity that is defined as the amount of matter (energy, substance) passing through some cross section of the flow of said matter per unit time.
Example. As the rules established by the EU state, for devices having a power consumption in the range of 15-50 W, the maximum allowable power consumption in standby mode is 500 mW.
Another interpretation
The next meaning of the word “consumption” is a quantity that characterizes the consumption of something in a quantitative sense, as per unit of effect, useful product, etc.
Example. As for the consumption of shells at the main borders, it should look like this: in one minute, six howitzer shells and ten cannon shells for a four-gun battery.
Financial term
What is the expense of economists and financiers? The dictionary says that this is a section, a column, which is available in accounting documents in order to record costs there. And also these are the costs incurred in the process of the enterprise, which lead to a decrease in its funds or an increase in debt obligations.
Example. When analyzing the work of the enterprise for the first half of the year, the economic department concluded that excessive costs adversely affected the final indicators, actually exceeding the income.