dandiprat

American  

[dan-dee-prat] / ˈdæn diˌpræt /

noun

1. a silver coin of 16th-century England, equal to about twopence.

2. Archaic.

   1. a diminutive person; a dwarf.

   2. a person of small or childish mind; a silly, finicky, or puerile person.

   3. a child.

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dandiprat British  

/ ˈdændɪˌpræt /

noun

1. a small English coin minted in the 16th century

2. archaic

   1. a small boy

   2. an insignificant person

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Etymology

Origin of dandiprat

First recorded in 1510–20; origin uncertain

Example Sentences

The epic’s hero, for instance, is introduced as “a cockney dandiprat hopthumb,/ Prittye lad Aeneas.”

From Washington Post

This term, which has been recently applied to a species of reptile very common in the metropolis, appears to have arisen from a small silver coin struck by King Henry VII., of little value, called a dandiprat; and hence Bishop Fleetwood observes the term is applied to worthless and contemptible persons.”

From Project Gutenberg

But this I ghesse: being then a dandiprat, Some witty Poet took him on his lap, And fed him, from above, with some choice bit.

From Project Gutenberg

And then she remembered, with a fluttering heart, that she was likely to become a great lady and the peer of this fascinating dandiprat.

From Project Gutenberg

Lady Fortune has played me a scurvy trick; but may she not to-morrow play as roguish a one to the Sheepfaced old Chamber Lord with the golden Key, or any other smart Pink-an-eye Dandiprat that hangs about the Court?

From Project Gutenberg