picayune

picayune
picayunishly, adv.picayunishness, n.
/pik'ee yoohn", pik'euh-/, adj. Also, picayunish. Informal.
1. of little value or account; small; trifling: a picayune amount.
2. petty, carping, or prejudiced: I didn't want to seem picayune by criticizing.
n.
3. (formerly, in Louisiana, Florida, etc.) a coin equal to half a Spanish real.
4. any small coin, as a five-cent piece.
5. Informal. an insignificant person or thing.
[1780-90; < Pr picaioun small copper coin (cf. F picaillons), deriv. of an onomatopoetic base *pikk- beat, here referring to the coining of coppers]
Syn. 1. trivial, insignificant. 2. narrow-minded.

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  • picayune — (n.) 1804, coin of small value, probably from Louisiana Fr. picaillon coin worth 5 cents, earlier the French name of an old copper coin of Savoy (1750), from Prov. picaioun small copper coin, from picaio money, of uncertain origin …   Etymology dictionary

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