As Found In: The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
In the 19th-century American South, a picayune was a coin with a low monetary value. The word derives from picaioun, which means "small coin" in Occitan (a language spoken in Southern France). The Occitan word pica means "to jingle" and was created to mimic the sound of coins jingling. Originally published as The Picayune in 1837, the New Orleans paper was named for the price for which an issue was sold—about six and a quarter cents. Picayune can additionally mean "petty or trifling," as in "picayune complaints."