doit

American  

[doit] / dɔɪt /

noun

1. Also duit an old small copper coin of the Netherlands and Dutch colonies, first issued in the 17th century.

2. a bit or trifle.

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doit British  

/ dɔɪt /

noun

1. a former small copper coin of the Netherlands

2. a trifle

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Etymology

Origin of doit

First recorded in 1585–95, doit is from the Dutch word duit

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

doit

Shakespeare, for example, in Henry V., refers to it thus:— “And let us doit with no show of fear; No! with no more than if we heard that England Were busied with a Whitsun Morris-dance.”

From England in the Days of Old by William Andrews

“So that, if I like,” concluded my grandfather, hammering out his words, “I can leave every doit I die possessed of to the Great Magunn?”—meaning probably the Great Mogul.

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 13 (of 25) by Robert Louis Stevenson

"You can readily get English coin changed in the town," he observed with a smirk, as in sheer bewilderment I gazed upon this paltry doit.

From The Strange Adventures of Captain Dangerous, Vol. 2 Who was a sailor, a soldier, a merchant, a spy, a slave among the moors... by George Augustus Sala

But above all would I counsel you to follow his example in his faithful attention to duty, fulfilling the French proverb, "Faites ce que doit advienne que pourra."

From Letters of Lt.-Col. George Brenton Laurie (commanding 1st Battn. Royal Irish Rifles) Dated November 4th, 1914-March 11th, 1915 by Florence Vere-Laurie

Perhaps his woman has gone bad on him or he has played his last copper doit at gambling.

From Where the Pavement Ends by John Russell