pittance

C1 Topic:Money & Finance

US /ˈpɪtəns/ UK /ˈpɪtəns/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a very small or inadequate amount of money, especially paid as wages

He was paid a mere pittance for his hard work.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a very small or inadequate... peanutschump changesmall changechicken feed

Opposites

fortune windfall

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

mere pittance
An extremely small and inadequate amount of money.

Adjective + noun

Simplified etymology

Pittance comes from medieval Latin pitantia, a development of Latin pietas. Pitantia meant a charitable donation and especially the small daily allowance of food given to monks or paupers, which led to the English sense of a meager allowance.

Etymology

From Latin pietas ('piety; duty') via Medieval Latin pietantia ('allowance of food given to monks') and Old French pitance ('charitable gift; allowance'); into Middle English pittance, now 'a small amount of money'.

Topics

Money & Finance

External links

# pittance

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈpɪtəns/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈpɪtəns/

## Meanings
1. a very small or inadequate amount of money, especially paid as wages

## Examples
- He was paid a mere pittance for his hard work.

## Synonyms
- peanuts
- chump change
- small change
- chicken feed

## Antonyms
- fortune
- windfall

## Etymology
From Latin pietas ('piety; duty') via Medieval Latin pietantia ('allowance of food given to monks') and Old French pitance ('charitable gift; allowance'); into Middle English pittance, now 'a small amount of money'.

## AI Etymology
Pittance comes from Latin pietas ('piety; duty') via Medieval Latin pietantia ('allowance of food given to monks') and Old French pitance ('charitable gift; allowance'); into Middle English pittance, now 'a small amount of money'. In current use it is a noun meaning "a very small or inadequate amount of money, especially paid as wages". That sense is explained by the older material without requiring a speculative semantic step: the inherited or borrowed base supplies the field of meaning, while the English formation fixes its modern role. The history is mainly one of transmission into English, with the older form and sense carried through borrowing or adaptation. For dictionary purposes, the important point is the continuity between the older form, the route into English, and the present lexical sense.

## Topics
- Money & Finance

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