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  1. stiver love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. A nickel coin used in the Netherlands and worth 1/20 of a guilder.
  2. n. Something of small value.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. A small coin formerly current in Holland and in the Dutch colonies: in Dutch called stuiver. A small silver coin formerly current in Holland, the twentieth part of the Dutch gulden.
  2. n. A copper coin formerly current in the Dutch colonies.
  3. n. Hence Any very small coin, or coin of little value.
  4. n. An inhabitant of the stews; a harlot.

Wiktionary

  1. n. historical A small Dutch coin worth one twentieth of a guilder.
  2. n. Anything of small value.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. A Dutch coin, and money of account, of the value of two cents, or about one penny sterling; hence, figuratively, anything of little worth.

Etymologies

  1. From Dutch stuiver, cognate with Middle Low German stüver. (Wiktionary)
  2. Dutch stuiver, from Middle Dutch stuyver. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “[2] A stiver is a Dutch coin equal to 1/20 of a guilder.”

    Letter from Robert Carter to John Gale, 1720 July 13

  • “Six white beads of wampum to the stiver was the rate established by authority in 1673.] _26th, Tuesday.”

    Journal of Jasper Danckaerts, 1679-1680

  • “I could not prevail on them to accept one stiver, doit, or maravedi, for the trouble and expenses of my sick bed.”

    A Legend of Montrose

  • ““I was plundered of every stiver when they took me — it shall avail thee much.””

    Quentin Durward

  • “Well, as he was a-going to depart this bachelor life, he did what every man in such suckmstances ought to do; he made his will, — that is, he made a dispasition of his property, and wrote letters to his creditors telling them of his lucky chance; and that after his marridge he would sutnly pay them every stiver.”

    The Memoirs of Mr. Charles J. Yellowplush

  • “‘Well, you tell Holdaway that I’m aground, not a stiver — not a stiver.”

    Lay Morals

  • “He said he had not a stiver, but he was drunk enough.”

    Lay Morals

  • “Mr. Whip Vigil, on the other hand, declared on the part of Government that the bridge was wholly unnecessary; that if it were built it ought to be pulled down again; and that not a stiver could be given out of the public purse with such an object.”

    The Three Clerks

  • “Not a stiver, mon garçon - which means, my lad: get up, and we'll take a turn through the mill before the hands come in, and”

    Shirley, by Charlotte Bronte

  • “Doones indeed they were, about which you of course know best — took every stiver out of the carriage: wet or dry they took it.”

    Lorna Doone

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same context (3)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. mytop
  1. groat
  1. twopence

rhymes (10)

Words with the same terminal sound

  1. Ivor
  2. cliver
  1. diver
  2. driver
  1. iver
  2. macgyver
  1. shriver
  2. siver
  1. skiver
  2. survivor

reverse dictionary (2)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. penny
  1. doit

tags (1)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. harlot

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tagging (1)

Words tagged ‘stiver’

  1. stews

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Lists

These user-created lists contain the word ‘stiver’.

Comments

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  • fbharjo It leaves one in a stew! No reason to stew about it though!
    Wordie (wordnik) is a stew John created (started). What would it be without spice! Feb 22, 2011

  • reesetee *wonders whether John's sorry he asked*

    ;-) Feb 22, 2011

  • ruzuzu "3. A heated room used for hot air or vapour baths : hence, a hot bath. Obs. exc. Hist. or arch. . . .
    4. A brothel. (Developed from sense 3, on account of the frequent use of the public hot-air bath-houses for immoral purposes. Cf. bagnio.)
    a. In plural (chiefly collect.; sometimes, a quarter occupied by houses of ill-fame)."

    --from the Oxford English Dictionary definition for stews, p. 935 (specifically the Compact Edition which was "reproduced micrographically" in 1974 and came with its own magnifying glass) Feb 22, 2011

  • ruzuzu The OED has a bunch of meanings for it, including ponds, moats, artificial oyster-beds, and "A breeding place for pheasants," but I think what we're looking for is something about the heated rooms in steamy bath-houses (hot-air baths), and the unsavory things that happened there.
    Feb 22, 2011

  • dontcry "Stella!" Feb 22, 2011

  • dontcry I would guess it refers the hot, heavy, gritty, moist, and otherwise unsavory area of a city. Feb 22, 2011

  • reesetee This book implies that the stews are "brothel-houses," presumably somewhere (or in many places) in England--the book is titled The Church History of Britain. Feb 22, 2011

  • yarb The slums? Feb 22, 2011

  • john Anybody have any idea where or what "the stews" are? Feb 22, 2011

  • ruzuzu "4. An inhabitant of the stews; a harlot."

    --Century Dictionary Feb 22, 2011

  • yarb ...not to speak of my three years' beef and board, for which I would not have to pay one stiver.

    - Melville, Moby-Dick, ch. 16 Jul 23, 2008

  • whichbe Thing of little or no value. (from Phrontistery) May 22, 2008

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‘stiver’ has been looked up 1479 times, loved by 1 person, added to 8 lists, commented on 12 times, and has a Scrabble score of 9.