First Known Use: 14th century
Dictionary
1coin
noun \ˈkȯin\
: a small, flat, and usually round piece of metal issued by a government as money
Full Definition of COIN
1
2
a : a usually flat piece of metal issued by governmental authority as money b : metal money c : something resembling a coin especially in shape
3
: something used as if it were money (as in verbal or intellectual exchange) <perhaps wisecracks … are respectable literary coin in the United States — Times Literary Supplement> <would repay him with the full coin of his mind — Ian Fleming>
4
: something having two different and usually opposing sides —usually used in the phrase the other side of the coin
5
: money <I'm in it for the coin — Sinclair Lewis>
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Origin of COIN
Middle English, from Anglo-French coing wedge, corner, from Latin cuneus wedge
Related to COIN
- Synonyms
- bread [slang], bucks, cabbage [slang], cash, change, chips, money, currency, dough, gold, green, jack [slang], kale [slang], legal tender, lolly [British], long green [slang], loot, lucre, moola (or moolah) [slang], needful, pelf, scratch [slang], shekels (also sheqels or shekelim or shekalim or sheqalim), tender, wampum
2coin
verb
: to create (a new word or phrase) that other people begin to use
: to make (money in the form of coins)
Full Definition of COIN
transitive verb
See coin defined for English-language learners
First Known Use of COIN
14th century
3coin
adjective
Definition of COIN
1
: of or relating to coins
2
: operated by coins
First Known Use of COIN
circa 1566
COIN[1] Defined for Kids
1coin
noun \ˈkȯin\
Definition of COIN for Kids
1
: a piece of metal put out by government authority as money
2
: metal money <… the quantity of coin he had seen was too vast to be real. — Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer>
2coin
verb
coinedcoin·ing
Definition of COIN for Kids
1
: to make coins especially by stamping pieces of metal : mint
2
: to make metal (as gold or silver) into coins
3
: to make up (a new word or phrase)
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