Parsimony
Etymology
From Latin parsimonia, "thrift, frugality," from parsus, the past participle of parcere, "to spare, to refrain from spending." The original sense was neutral thrift, and a virtuous echo survives in "the law of parsimony," the scientific preference for the simplest explanation. In everyday use, though, the word has soured toward miserliness.
noun · /PAR-sih-moh-nee/
Extreme frugality — an unwillingness to spend or share, taken to the point of stinginess.
What it names
The trait of the person who hoards resources and grudges every outlay, sparing money and effort well past the point of good sense.
Example
The firm’s parsimony over basic tools cost far more in wasted hours than it ever saved on the budget.
Related idea
Frugality is prudent, admirable thrift — spending carefully on what matters. Parsimony is that same impulse pushed too far, into a stinginess that pinches where it shouldn’t.
noun · /PAR-sih-moh-nee/
The principle that the simplest explanation, making the fewest assumptions, is to be preferred — the “law of parsimony,” or Occam’s razor.
What it names
a rule of reasoning in science and philosophy for choosing between competing theories
Example
By parsimony, the theory that needs fewer unseen entities wins.
Related idea
The same thrift, moved from money to logic: here one is stingy with assumptions rather than with spending — economy of explanation, not of the purse.