piece of eight

American  

noun

1. peso.

---

piece of eight British  

noun

1. a former Spanish coin worth eight reals; peso

---

Etymology

Origin of piece of eight

First recorded in 1600–10

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

piece of eight

It was a Spanish piece of eight," said Historian Truman, "and it was thrown across the Rappahannock .

From Time Magazine Archive

But there circulated, usually by weight, various foreign coins, the most common of which was the Spanish piece of eight, about equal in value to five shillings in English money.

From Virginia under the Stuarts 1607-1688 by Thomas Jefferson Wertenbaker

A Spanish piece of eight, worth 4s. 6d.

From The Sailor's Word-Book An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, including Some More Especially Military and Scientific, but Useful to Seamen; as well as Archaisms of Early Voyagers, etc. by Sir Edward Belcher

A real de plata was one-eighth of a peso or piece of eight.

From The Buccaneers in the West Indies in the XVII Century by Clarence Henry Haring

The most probable is that it is a modification of the figure 8, denoting the famous "piece of eight" of pirate lore, a Spanish silver piece of the value of our dollar.

From Harper's Round Table, September 24, 1895 by Various

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---