mont-de-piété

[ mawnduh-pyey-tey ]

noun,plural monts-de-pié·té [mawnduh-pyey-tey]. /mɔ̃də pyeɪˈteɪ/. French.
  1. a public pawnbroking establishment that lends money on reasonable terms, especially to people with low incomes.

Origin of mont-de-piété

1
First recorded in 1840–45; from French: literally “bank of pity,” from Italian monte di pietà

Words Nearby mont-de-piété

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use mont-de-piété in a sentence

  • Juste lent Marcas two hundred francs in gold, the product of two watches bought on credit, and pawned at the Mont-de-Piete.

    Z. Marcas | Honore de Balzac
  • He would smooth the way for the good mother, leaving some of her jewels at the Mont-de-Piete.

    The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse | Vicente Blasco Ibanez
  • Ruth's connexion with the mont-de-piete had come about almost automatically.

    The Man Upstairs | P. G. Wodehouse
  • And at the mont-de-piete there occurred a surprising incident.

    The Man Upstairs | P. G. Wodehouse
  • You would say, "What does this young man, so well-dressed, in a mont-de-piete?"

    The Man Upstairs | P. G. Wodehouse

British Dictionary definitions for mont-de-piété

mont-de-piété

/ French (mɔ̃dpjete) /


nounplural monts-de-piété (mɔ̃dpjete)
  1. (formerly) a public pawnshop

Origin of mont-de-piété

1
from Italian monte di pietà bank of pity

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