Pittance

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Pittance \Pit"tance\ (p[i^]t"tans), n. [OE. pitance, pitaunce,
     F. pitance; cf. It. pietanza, LL. pitancia, pittantia,
     pictantia; perh. fr. L. pietas pity, piety, or perhaps akin
     to E. petty. Cf. {Petty}, and {Pity}.]
     1. An allowance of food bestowed in charity; a mess of
        victuals; hence, a small charity gift; a dole. "A good


        pitaunce." --Chaucer.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              One half only of this pittance was ever given him in
              money.                                --Macaulay.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A meager portion, quantity, or allowance; an
        inconsiderable salary or compensation. "The small pittance
        of learning they received." --Swift.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The inconsiderable pittance of faithful professors.
                                                    --Fuller.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  pittance
       n : an inadequate payment; "they work all day for a mere
           pittance"

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  75 Moby Thesaurus words for "pittance":
     ace, alms, alms fee, atom, bit, charity, collection, contribution,
     dab, dole, donation, donative, dot, dram, dribble, driblet, dwarf,
     farthing, fleck, flyspeck, fragment, gobbet, grain, granule, groat,
     hair, half rations, handful, handout, inadequacy, insufficiency,
     iota, jot, little, little bit, mere subsistence, minim, minimum,
     minutiae, mite, modicum, molecule, mote, nutshell, offering,
     offertory, ounce, particle, peanuts, pebble, pinch, point, scrap,
     scrimption, scruple, shoestring, short allowance, short commons,
     small potatoes, smidgen, smitch, speck, spoonful, spot,
     starvation wages, subscription, thimbleful, tiny bit, tithe,
     tittle, trace, trifling amount, trivia, votive offering, whit