pecuniary

American  

[pi-kyoo-nee-er-ee] / pɪˈkyu niˌɛr i /

adjective

1. of or relating to money.

   pecuniary difficulties.

2. consisting of or given or exacted in money or monetary payments.

   pecuniary tributes.

3. (of a crime, violation, etc.) involving a money penalty or fine.

---

pecuniary British  

/ pɪˈkjuːnɪərɪ /

adjective

1. consisting of or relating to money

2. law (of an offence) involving a monetary penalty

---

Synonym Usage

See financial.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pecuniarily
  adverb
• nonpecuniary
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of pecuniary

First recorded in 1500–10; from Latin pecūniārius, derivative of pecūnia “property, money (wealth in cattle),” derivative of pecū “flock”; see peculiar, fief ( def. )

Explanation

If something has to do with money, it's pecuniary. If your grandfather's antique watch has pecuniary value, it's worth money — you could sell it for cash if you weren't sentimentally attached to keeping it. Pecuniary might seem like a peculiar word for talking about money, but it all adds up when you learn that it was the worth of the cattle, or pecū in Latin, that gave pecuniary its meaning. In Roman times, livestock served as money in making transactions. Some cultures still have economies based on cattle, but most modern societies have a pecuniary system based on, well, money.

Example Sentences

And all of that’s only from chapter seven, “Dress as an Expression of the Pecuniary Culture.”

From Salon • Apr. 19, 2019

Pecuniary Claims, against Mexico, 196, 197; British policy in regard to, 198; attempt to collect by force from Venezuela, 249-257; Resolutions of Second Hague Conference, 259, 260; considered by International American Conferences, 302, 303.

From The United States and Latin America by Latane, John Holladay

Pecuniary or industrial considerations were awakened later in the process of transformation.

From Bushido, the Soul of Japan by Nitobe, Inazo

Pecuniary responsibility was his bogey of the dark closet.

From James Watt by Carnegie, Andrew

Pecuniary distress, owing to the depression in trade, was almost universal.

From English Caricaturists and Graphic Humourists of the Nineteenth Century. How they Illustrated and Interpreted their Times. by Everitt, Graham