picayune

/-ki-/

UK: /ˌpɪkəˈjuːn/

picayune

English Noun

Definition

A small coin of the value of six-and-a-quarter cents; a Spanish coin with a value of half a real; a fippenny bit.

Etymology

The noun is borrowed from southern French picaillon, pécaillon, picayon (“type of small foreign coin; (informal, especially in the plural) cash, money”), and from its etymon Occitan picalhon, picaioun (“cheaply made Savoyan-Piedmontese coin that was rapidly demonetized; (by extension) cash, money”), probably from Occitan piquar (“to ring (bells); to knock, strike”) (referring to the clinking of coins in a pocket), originally imitative. The adjective is derived from the noun.