peso
Americannoun
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pesos
plural
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a coin and monetary unit of Chile, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Guinea-Bissau, Mexico, and the Philippines, equal to 100 centavos.
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a coin and monetary unit of Uruguay, equal to 100 centesimos.
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a former monetary unit of Argentina, equal to 100 centavos: replaced by the austral in 1985.
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a former silver coin of Spain and Spanish America, equal to eight reals; dollar; piece of eight; piaster.
noun
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the standard monetary unit, comprising 100 centavos, of Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and the Philippines; formerly also of Guinea-Bissau, where it was replaced by the CFA franc
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the standard monetary unit of Uruguay, divided into 100 centesimos
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another name for piece of eight
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of peso
< Spanish: literally, weight < Latin pēnsum something weighed, noun use of neuter of pēnsus, past participle of pendere to weigh
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Overall, the former hedge-fund manager has taken an unusually aggressive approach to managing markets, including interventions to support the Argentine peso and Japanese yen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
Bessent was speaking not just of the Treasury’s recent intervention in support of the Japanese yen but also of American efforts to shore up the Argentine peso ahead of the last election.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026
That and oil price buoyancy pushed the peso up 10% against the dollar this year despite budgetary travails.
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
Later dubbed "quantitative easing", such upheavals included the 1980s savings and loan crisis, the first Gulf War, the Mexican peso crisis and - shortly after he had retired - the global credit crisis in 2008.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
Aureliano gave her fourteen little gold fishes because she was determined to leave with only what she had: one peso and twenty-five cents.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
He said players would pay him 100 pesos or roughly two dollars, which he would split between himself and his mum for their household's groceries.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
The brokerage raises the stock’s target price to 5.20 pesos from 4.30 pesos, with an unchanged buy rating.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
It represents a devaluation of almost 40 percent over the rate of 6.96 pesos at which the authorities pegged the dollar in 2011.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
Improving travel demand visibility and easing fuel risks prompt the brokerage to lift its 2027 Ebitdar forecast for the airline by 6% even as it sees a 2026 net loss of 1.6 billion pesos.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
She gave him 6 pesos and told him to go to her house, the one with a pig leashed on the patio, for dinner.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
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.
