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picayune

 
Dictionary: pic·a·yune   (pĭk'ə-yūn') pronunciation
adj.
  1. Of little value or importance; paltry. See synonyms at trivial.
  2. Petty; mean.
n.
  1. A Spanish-American half-real piece formerly used in parts of the southern United States.
  2. A five-cent piece.
  3. Something of very little value; a trifle: not worth a picayune.

[Louisiana French picaillon, small coin, from French, from Provençal picaioun, from picaio, money, perhaps from Old Provençal piquar, to jingle, clink, from Vulgar Latin *piccāre, to pierce. See pique.]

picayunish pic'a·yun'ish adj.

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Wordsmith Words: picayune
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(pik-uh-YOON)

adjective
1. Of little value or significance.
2. Petty, small-minded.

noun
1. A Spanish-American coin equal to half the value of a real (a silver coin).
2. A small coin, especially a five-cent piece.
3. Something or someone of little value.

Etymology
From French picaillon, from Provençal picaioun, a small coin.

Usage
"One could criticize the book as having a progovernment bias, but such criticism would be picayune and, I believe, wrong." — Hawley, F. Frederick, Terrorism in America: Pipe Bombs and Pipe Dreams. (book reviews), Social Forces, Mar 1, 1995.

"Well, it is not supposed to be good form these days to dwell on the picayune personal problems, especially of Republicans, but, you know, I've never been much for form. So, of the speaker, Gingrich's three recent personal problems - his mother, his historian and his book - the book is potentially, I think, the most serious." — Schorr - Reality Sets in for New Congress, Weekend Edition - Saturday NPR, Jan 14, 1995.


Thesaurus: picayune
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adjective

    Contemptibly unimportant: inconsiderable, negligible, niggling, nugatory, paltry, petty, piddling, small, small-minded, trifling. Slang measly. Idioms: of no account. See important/unimportant.

Obscure Words: picayune
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1) a silver 5-cent coin struck by the U.S. mint from 1792-1873: half dime
2) something trivial:  <not worth a picayune>
Wikipedia: Picayune
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A picayune was a Spanish coin, worth half a real. Its name derives from the French picaillon, which is itself from the Provençal picaioun, meaning "small coin." By extension, picayune can mean "trivial" or "of little value."

Aside from being used in Spanish territories, the picayune and other Spanish currency was used throughout colonial America. Spanish dollars were made legal tender in the United States by an act on February 9, 1793 until it was demonetized on February 21, 1857.[1] The coin's name first appeared in Florida and Louisiana where its value was worth approximately six and a quarter cents, and whose name was sometimes used in place of the U.S. nickel.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ Spanish Silver: General Introduction Coin and Currency Collections - University of Notre Dame, Retrieved on April 7, 2008
  2. ^ Picayune, Probert Encyclopedia, Retrieved on April 10, 2008
  3. ^ Picayune, World Wide Words, Retrieved on April 8, 2008



Translations: Picayune
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Dansk (Danish)
adj. - ubetydelig, snæversynet
n. - bagatel

Nederlands (Dutch)
stuiver, onbelangrijk iemand/iets, kleingeestig

Français (French)
adj. - (US) mesquin
n. - (US) pièce modique de cinq cents

Deutsch (German)
n. - kleine Münze, etwas Unbedeutendes
adj. - kleinlich, unbedeutend

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (ΗΠΑ) δεκάρα, πεντάρα
adj. - ευτελέστατος, φτηνός, τιποτένιος

Italiano (Italian)
monetina da 5 centesimi (USA), meschino, inezia, nonnulla

Português (Portuguese)
n. - ninharia (f), moeda de pouco valor (f)
adj. - insignificante

Русский (Russian)
мизерный

Español (Spanish)
adj. - de poca monta
n. - insignificante

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - bagatell, obetydl. person
adj. - obetydlig, småskuren

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
无聊的, 不值钱的, 小钱币, 无聊之物, 五分钱币

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 無聊的, 不值錢的
n. - 小錢幣, 無聊之物, 五分錢幣

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 아주 보잘 것 없는
n. - 피카윤(스페인의 소화폐), 하찮은 것

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - ピカユーン, 小銭, つまらないもの
adj. - つまらない, けちくさい, くだらない

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) شخص أو شيء تافه (صفه) تافه, حقير, سخيف‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮בזוי, קמצן, פעוט-ערך‬
n. - ‮חמישה סנט, דבר בזוי/חסר-ערך‬


 
 
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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wordsmith Words. © 2009 Wordsmith.org. All rights reserved.  Read more
Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Obscure Words. © 2008 by Michael A. Fischer http://home.comcast.net/~wwftd Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Picayune" Read more
Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more

 

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