Spesen

German

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]
Audio (file)
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
geringe, hohe, horrende Spesen
low, high, horrendous expenses
Spesen abrechnen, erstatten, haben, machen
to submit a claim for, to settle, to have, to make expenses
die Spesen tragen, übernehmen, zahlen
to bear/to carry, (to agree) to pay, to pay the costs/expenses
Spesen eingeschlossen
charges included
nach Abzug der Spesen, bei Verzicht aufSpesen
after deduction of expenses, with waiving of expenses
Alle angefallenen Spesen wurden ihm erstattet.
He was reimbursed for any expenses incurred.
- 1909 [1901], Thomas Mann, Buddenbrooks […] ‎, Berlin: Deutsche Buch-Gemeinschaft, OCLC 72614589, 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

Declension of Spesen [pl-only]

	plural
	def.	noun
nominative	die	Spesen
genitive	der	Spesen
dative	den	Spesen
accusative	die	Spesen

Derived terms

außer Spesen nichts gewesen
Fahrspesen
Frachtspesen
Geschäftsspesen
Portospesen
Spesenabrechnung
Spesenadel (colloquial)
spesenartig
Spesenbeleg
spesen (colloquial)
spesenfrei
Spesenplatz
Spesenrechnung
Spesenritter (pejorative)
Tagesspesen
Telefonspesen
Transportspesen
Verpackungsspesen
Versandspesen

References

“Spesen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
“Spesen” in Duden online