picayune
Contents
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Probably from French picaillon, the name of a French coin, from Occitan picaioun (“coin”), from picaio (“money”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
picayune (comparative more picayune, superlative most picayune)
- Petty, trivial; of little consequence; small and of little importance.
- 2005, New York Times, November 17, 2005
- "It might seem like a picayune matter, akin to the rivalry in the film "Monty Python's Life of Brian" between the Judean People's Front, the Judean Popular People's Front and the People's Front of Judea."
- 2005, New York Times, November 17, 2005
- Small-minded; childishly spiteful, tending to go on about unimportant things.
Synonyms[edit]
Noun[edit]
picayune (plural picayunes)
- (US, especially Louisiana, archaic) A small coin of the value of six-and-a-quarter cents; a fippenny bit.
- (archaic) A five-cent piece.
- Something of very little value; a trifle.
- An argument, fact, corner case, or other issue raised (often intentionally) that distracts from a larger issue at hand or fails to make any difference.
Translations[edit]
A small coin of the value of six and a quarter cents.
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A five-cent piece.
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Something of very little value.
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See also[edit]
picayune on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Picayune in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.