sou

[ soo ]

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

Origin of sou

1
1810–20; <French; Old French solsol2

Other definitions for sou. (2 of 2)

sou.

abbreviation
  1. south.

  2. southern.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use sou in a sentence

  • M. d'Infreville, justly incensed against me, had not left me a sou, and my mother and I became terribly poor.

  • The flowers are lovely; you can buy a big bunch of violets for a son, and sou is the peasant word for a halfpenny.

  • If you don't have the young woman, you can live at Hopton, but without a sou to your name.

    Dross | Henry Seton Merriman
  • But I don't care a sou where I go if I can get to act, or who they are if they'll help me.

    The Tragic Muse | Henry James
  • St. Genis, who hasn't a sou, was out of the question, I suppose.

    The Bronze Eagle | Emmuska Orczy, Baroness Orczy

British Dictionary definitions for sou

sou

/ (suː) /


noun
  1. a former French coin of low denomination

  2. a very small amount of money: I haven't a sou to my name

Origin of sou

1
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