sou

(so͞o)

One of several coins formerly used in France, worth a small amount.

[French, from Old French sol, from Late Latin solidus, solidus; see solidus.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

sou

(suː)

1. (Historical Terms) a former French coin of low denomination

2. (Banking & Finance) a very small amount of money: I haven't a sou to my name.

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

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sou

(so̅o̅),
n., pl. sous.

1. (formerly) either of two bronze coins of France, equal to five centimes and ten centimes.

2. sol ² .

[1810–20; < French; Old French sol sol²]

sou.

1. south.

2. southern.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

sou - a former French coin of low denomination; often used of any small amount of money; "he hasn't a sou to his name"

coin - a flat metal piece (usually a disc) used as money

Translations

soldo

су

sou

n (inf) I haven’t a sou → ich habe keinen Cent

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

This was the secret of my purchase, and the true reason why this lovely girl had literally expended her last sou in making it.

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Here long ago the girls of Sou, the darlings of the King, Dabbled their shining skirts with dew from the gracious blooms of Spring.

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It was on a gray afternoon in the lull of a three days' gale that had left the Southern Ocean tumbling heavily upon our ship, under a sky hung with rags of clouds that seemed to have been cut and hacked by the keen edge of a sou'-west gale.

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"Well, then, send away the Abbe Fouquet; I have not a sou." Gourville made a step towards the door.

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Here comes another with a sou'-wester and a bombazine cloak.

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She is dangerous to beauty, when beauty hasn't the sou."

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Nevertheless, he never borrowed a sou of his companions, although his purse was ever at their service; and when he had played upon honor, he always awakened his creditor by six o'clock the next morning to pay the debt of the preceding evening.

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My cousin doesn't give me a sou of the money; but I make bold, nevertheless, to say that my trouble is remunerated.

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We really can't sing 'An Hussar.' Ah, let us sing in French, 'Cinq sous,' I have taught it you, I have taught it you.

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In our part of the world you would simply have to wear your life out before you would make ten sous a day."

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You know no other daisies ( marguerites ) than those which your April greensward gives your cows to browse upon; while I, a poet, am hooted, and shiver, and owe twelve sous, and the soles of my shoes are so transparent, that they might serve as glasses for your lantern!

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"Si vous envisagez la question sous ce point de vue,"* he began, pronouncing French with evident difficulty, and speaking even slower than in Russian but quite calmly.

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