peso

[pey-soh, pe-saw]

noun

plural

pesos 

1. a coin and monetary unit of Chile, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Guinea-Bissau, Mexico, and the Philippines, equal to 100 centavos.

2. a coin and monetary unit of Uruguay, equal to 100 centesimos.

3. a former monetary unit of Argentina, equal to 100 centavos: replaced by the austral in 1985.

4. a former silver coin of Spain and Spanish America, equal to eight reals; dollar; piece of eight; piaster.

peso

/ ˈpeso, ˈpeɪsəʊ /

noun

1. 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

2. the standard monetary unit of Uruguay, divided into 100 centesimos

3. another name for piece of eight

Word History and Origins

Origin of peso¹

< Spanish: literally, weight < Latin pēnsum something weighed, noun use of neuter of pēnsus, past participle of pendere to weigh

Word History and Origins

Origin of peso¹

C16: from Spanish: weight, from Latin pēnsum something weighed out, from pendere to weigh

Example Sentences

They also point to strict limits on how many pesos that firms can exchange into foreign currencies.

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Over subsequent weeks, the Treasury spent $400 million propping up the Argentine peso.

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The country has routinely failed to generate enough dollars to keep its own currency, the peso, pegged at a fixed level.

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The genius of Renaissance wasn’t discovering that Japanese rainfall predicted the value of Mexican pesos.

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The Americas became “the center of a new global economy,” Mr. Gillingham writes, the peso “the world’s first reserve currency.”

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