picayune

pic·a·yune

(pĭk'ə-yūn') pronunciation

adj.

Of little value or importance; paltry. See synonyms at trivial.
Petty; mean.

A Spanish-American half-real piece formerly used in parts of the southern United States.
A five-cent piece.
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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picayune

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adjective

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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>

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Rhymes:

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See words rhyming with "picayune."

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Picayune

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This article is about the obsolete Spanish coin. For other uses, see Picayune (disambiguation).

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]

A daily newspaper published in the New Orleans market, the Times-Picayune, is named after the picayune.^[4]

References

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Picayune.

Look up picayune in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

^ Spanish Silver: General Introduction Coin and Currency Collections - University of Notre Dame, Retrieved on April 7, 2008
^ Picayune, Probert Encyclopedia, Retrieved on April 10, 2008
^ Picayune, World Wide Words, Retrieved on April 8, 2008
^ McLeary, Paul (2005-09-12). "The Times-Picayune: How They Did It.". Columbia Journalism Review. http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/the_timespicayune_how_they_did.php. Retrieved 2010-07-27.

This coin-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

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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:

		American Heritage 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
		Roget's Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 byHoughton 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
		Random House Word Menu. © 2010 Write Brothers Inc. Word Menu is a registered trademark of the Estate of Stephen Glazier. Write Brothers Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
		Rhymes. Oxford University Press. © 2006, 2007 All rights reserved. Read more
		Wikipedia on Answers.com. 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

	George Wilkins Kendall (literature)
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	Samuel Irving Newhouse (American publisher)