Wordnet 3.0
ADJECTIVE (1)
1.
regulating or controlling expenditure or personal behavior;
- Example: "sumptuary laws discouraging construction of large houses on small plots"- Example: "sumptuary laws forbidding gambling"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Sumptuary \Sump"tu*a*ry\, a. [L. sumptuarius, fr. sumptus
expense, cost, fr. sumere, sumptum, to take, use, spend; sub
under + emere to take, buy: cf. F. somptuaire. See Redeem.]
Relating to expense; regulating expense or expenditure.
--Bacon.
[1913 Webster]
Sumptuary laws or Sumptuary regulations, laws intended to
restrain or limit the expenditure of citizens in apparel,
food, furniture, etc.; laws which regulate the prices of
commodities and the wages of labor; laws which forbid or
restrict the use of certain articles, as of luxurious
apparel.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
sumptuary
adj 1: regulating or controlling expenditure or personal
behavior; "sumptuary laws discouraging construction of
large houses on small plots"; "sumptuary laws forbidding
gambling"