picayune

名词 n. 形容词 adj.
/ˌpɪkəˈjuːn/    /ˌpɪkəˈjun/|/-ki-/

英文释义

名词 n.
  1. 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. Louisiana,US,especially,historical
  2. A coin worth five cents (a nickel) or some other low value. US,archaic,broadly
  3. A person regarded as unworthy of respect or useless; also, something of very little value; a trifle. US,figuratively,informal
  4. An argument, fact, or other issue raised (often intentionally) that distracts from a larger issue or fails to make any difference. US,figuratively,informal
形容词 adj.
  1. Of little consequence; small and of little importance; petty, trivial. US,informal
    — It's also representative of a psychological syndrome that I notice has gotten steadily worse as the Cruise wears on, a mental list of dissatisfactions and grievances that started picayune but has quickly become nearly despair-grade.
  2. Childishly spiteful; tending to go on about unimportant things; small-minded. US,informal

词形变化

picayunes plural more picayune comparative most picayune superlative

词源

词源 1
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.
词源 2
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.
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