pittance

noun

pit·​tance ˈpi-tᵊn(t)s 

: a small portion, amount, or allowance

also : a meager wage or remuneration

Did you know?

It's a pity when you haven't anything but a pittance. And in fact, pity and pittance share etymological roots. The Middle English word pittance came from Anglo-French pitance, meaning "pity" or "piety." Originally, a pittance was a gift or bequest to a religious community, or a small charitable gift. Ultimately, the word comes from the Latin pietas, meaning "piety" or "compassion." Our words pity and piety come from pietas as well.

Synonyms

• chicken feed [slang]
• chump change
• dime
• hay
• mite
• peanuts
• pin money
• shoestring
• song
• two cents

Examples of pittance in a Sentence

the internship offers only a pittance for a salary, but it is a great opportunity to gain experience

Recent Examples on the Web

Brain fog might be a pittance of cloudiness and barely gets in your way. —Lance Eliot, Forbes, 24 Nov. 2024

Rather than setting it up with the spoils of co-hosting a World Cup, Canada Soccer settled for a dependable pittance. —Jeff Rueter, The Athletic, 1 Aug. 2024

In the process, swashbuckling entrepreneurs who seized on the right opportunities at the right time—Stanford, J. P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller—amassed titanic levels of wealth, while a new working class earned only a pittance in wages. —Yuen Yuen Ang, Foreign Affairs, 22 June 2021

His wife, Clara, and their children barely survived on the pittance of aid provided to those who signed up for public assistance, while Elijah fruitlessly begged at factory doors for any kind of job. —Ron Grossman, Chicago Tribune, 1 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English pitance, from Anglo-French, piety, pity, dole, portion, from Medieval Latin pietantia, from pietant-, pietans, present participle of pietari to be charitable, from Latin pietas piety — more at pity

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

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Kids Definition

pittance

noun

pit·​tance ˈpit-ᵊn(t)s 

: a small portion, amount, or allowance especially of money