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écu

1 American  
[ey-kyoo, ey-ky] / eɪˈkyu, eɪˈkü /

noun

plural

écus

  1. the shield carried by a mounted man-at-arms in the Middle Ages.

  2. any of various gold and silver coins of France, issued from the 13th through the 18th centuries, bearing the figure of a shield.

ECU 2 American  
[ey-koo, ee-see-yoo] / eɪˈku, ˈiˈsiˈyu /

noun

  1. a former money of account of the European Common Market that was used in international finance until the euro was adopted and was based on the combined prorated values of the currencies of member nations.

E.C.U. 3 American  

abbreviation

  1. English Church Union.

écu 1 British  
/ eɪˈkjuː, eky /

noun

  1. any of various former French gold or silver coins

  2. a small shield

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
ECU 2 British  
/ ˈiːˈsiːˈjuː, ˈeɪkjuː /

acronym

  1. European Currency Unit: a former unit of currency based on the composite value of several different currencies in the European Union and functioning as both the reserve asset and the accounting unit of the European Monetary System; replaced by the euro in 1999

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of écu1

1695–1705; < French; Old French escu < Latin scūtum shield

Origin of ECU2

E(uropean) C(urrency) U(nit), perhaps with play on écu ( def. )

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.