dime

B2 Topic:General Vocabulary

US /daɪm/ See IPA manual

Freq #5410

Meanings

1

noun
A US or Canadian coin worth ten cents, one tenth of a dollar.

She dropped a dime into the parking meter.
2

noun
A very small amount of money.

He built the business without spending a dime on advertising.
3

noun
Responsibility for paying the cost of something.

Are you traveling on the company's dime?

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a us or canadian coin worth... ten-cent piece

Word family

Forms dimes

Derived forms dime-bagdime-dropperdimebackdimelessdimelikefive-and-dimenickel-and-dime

Related forms buck dollar mill nickel quarter

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

dime bag
an informal name for a small packet of an illegal drug traditionally sold for ten dollars

Noun + noun

Idioms (1)

See all

a dime a dozen
So common as to be of little value.

Etymology

From Middle English dime, from Anglo-Norman disme (“one tenth, tithe”) (modern French dîme), from Medieval Latin decima, from Latin decima (pars) (“tenth (part)”). Doublet of decim, decima, and decime.

dime Middle English disme xno decima la-med decima (pars) Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# dime

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /daɪm/
**Frequency rank:** 5410

## Meanings
1. A US or Canadian coin worth ten cents, one tenth of a dollar.
2. A very small amount of money.
3. Responsibility for paying the cost of something.

## Examples
- She dropped a dime into the parking meter.
- He built the business without spending a dime on advertising.
- Are you traveling on the company's dime?

## Derived Forms
- dime-bag
- dime-dropper
- dimeback
- dimeless
- dimelike
- five-and-dime
- nickel-and-dime

## Related Forms
- buck
- dollar
- mill
- nickel
- quarter

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: dime
- Root: disme
- Root: decima
- Root: decima (pars)

## Etymology
From Middle English dime, from Anglo-Norman disme (“one tenth, tithe”) (modern French dîme), from Medieval Latin decima, from Latin decima (pars) (“tenth (part)”). Doublet of decim, decima, and decime.

## AI Etymology
dime comes from Middle English dime, from Anglo-Norman disme (“one tenth, tithe”) (modern French dîme), from Medieval Latin decima, from Latin decima (pars) (“tenth (part)”). Doublet of decim, decima, and decime. The historical chain includes Middle English dime, xno disme, la-med decima, Latin decima (pars). Current senses include A US or Canadian coin worth ten cents, one tenth of a dollar and A very small amount of money. English relatives and later formations include dime-bag, dime-dropper, dimeback, buck, dollar.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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