1. Costly, expensive.
1340. Ayenb., 229. Hi ham cloþeþ … mid uayre robes and costuolle.
c. 1430. Lydg., Bochas, VII. X. xxi. His costful vintage ceme from the rivere.
c. 1530. Pol., Rel. & L. Poems (1866), 31. A costefulle clothe.
2. transf. Causing expenditure or loss (of time, trouble, etc.).
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 3880. Long weiȝe and costful he ðor fond.
Hence Costfully adv., in a costly manner.
1460. Capgrave, Chron. (1858), 310. A banere costfully depeynted with a Host and a chalis.
1647. W. Browne, trans. Polexander, I. 27. Those famous cabinets … where the curiosity and luxury of our Age have so … costfully laid open their charmes.
