sou

[soo]

noun

(formerly) either of two bronze coins of France, equal to 5 centimes and 10 centimes.
sol².

Origin of sou

1810–20; < French; Old French sol sol²

sou.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for sou

Historical Examples of sou

He had not a sou of money for his passage, as he had not even been able to pay for an emigrant's ticket.
My Double Life
Sarah Bernhardt
A sou was so little and so easy to give, and there was also something so touching about the idea.
The Three Cities Trilogy, Complete
Emile Zola
But the peasant is not lavish, and, for whole weeks, he did not bring back a sou.
A Comedy of Marriage and Other Tales
Guy De Maupassant
But if you've never saved a sou, you had to do what other folks did and do without.
L'Assommoir
Emile Zola
She even slipped twenty sou pieces into his waistcoat pocket.
L'Assommoir
Emile Zola

British Dictionary definitions for sou

sou

noun

a former French coin of low denomination
a very small amount of moneyI haven't a sou to my name

Word Origin for sou

C19: from French, from Old French sol, from Latin: solidus

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

Word Origin and History for sou

small French coin, 1550s, back-formation from sous, plural of Old French soul, formerly a coin worth one-twentieth of a livre, from Latin solidus (see solidus).