Definition of pittance
: a small portion, amount, or allowance; also : a meager wage or remuneration
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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 of pittance from the Web
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More: WWII airmen, segregated by race, finally meet decades later Nearly every day Gary Marquardt plays at the graves of veterans — always leaving behind a penny on their stones as his symbol of the pittance of his service compared to theirs.
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While the company was going bankrupt in 1982, Veliscol and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency signed an agreement that provided $20 million for cleanup, a pittance of the eventual cost.
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While that’s a pittance compared to the billions served daily by Google, but many of DuckDuckGo’s users are alpha geeks, much as Google was adopted by the tech set back in the late 1990s.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'pittance'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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.
Origin and Etymology of pittance
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
PITTANCE Defined for English Language Learners
pittance
playDefinition of pittance for English Language Learners
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: a very small amount of money
Learn More about pittance
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Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for pittance Spanish Central: Translation of pittance Nglish: Translation of pittance for Spanish speakers
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