Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Lumps of pure silver bearing the stamp of a banker or an assayer and formerly used in China as money.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Properly, an epithet meaning ‘pure,’ applied to the uncoined lumps of silver used by the Chinese as money, but frequently used by itself, in the sense of ‘fine (uncoined) silver.’ See sycee-silver.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. China Silver, pounded into ingots of the shape of a shoe, and used as currency. The most common weight is about one pound troy.
Etymologies
- Said to be from a Chinese word for fine silk, because if pure the silver may be drawn out into fine threads. (Wiktionary)
- Chinese (Cantonese) saìsz, fine silk (so called because the pure silver can be spun into fine threads), equivalent to Chinese (Mandarin) xì, thin, fine + Chinese (Mandarin) sī, silk, thread. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Chinese lump silver, called sycee (fine silk), is made into ingots resembling in shape a shoe.”
“At Kiukiang, where the vessel stopped, the lowdah and his men went ashore after receiving the gold dust and sycee shoes as their share of the plunder, while Wang, taking the junk and cargo as his portion, shipped a fresh crew and sailed on to Hankow, where he set up in business with the proceeds of his ill-gotten gains.”
“All preparations having been slowly completed the day for departure arrived, and Chin, with much bowing and ceremonial posturing, having wished his wife and little son adieu, embarked with Wang, taking the equivalent of five thousand dollars [2] in sycee shoes and gold-dust, and amidst valedictory fusillades of fire-crackers, as well as a beating of gongs, the flotilla cast off and sailed away down river.”
“Repeat, word for word, as closely as you can remember, all that was told you by the sycee”
“The Mexican, or chop dollar, becomes sadly depreciated after long circulation, by the clippings and innumerable marks put upon it, so that it will not pass outside of China, nor does it long remain out of the pot of the sycee melter.”
The Continental Monthly, Vol. 6, No. 6, December 1864 Devoted To Literature And National Policy
“Although they are cursed with as abominable a currency as any nation in the world, they do not appear to experience any great difficulty in settlements, every merchant having his balance, and weighing off the proper amount of silver, larger payments being made in sycee.”
The Continental Monthly, Vol. 6, No. 6, December 1864 Devoted To Literature And National Policy
“And the sodden, stupefied merchantman, as if drunk with opium, goes yelling and staggering with her sleepy drugs to the bottom, and stays there, sycee silver and all.”
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 12, No. 28, July, 1873
“The sleepy Celestial seasons had gone flowering their way to paradise, and the opium-smuggler and her sycee silver lay safe and swallowed in ribs and jowl of quicksand.”
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 12, No. 28, July, 1873
“Ceylon they proceed to Siam, and thence to Hong-Kong, where they drop anchor in the offing, and by a special custom the cargo is sold and paid for in sycee silver before disfreighting, and the bullion is in the safe of the huge smuggler, although the opium has not yet been removed.”
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 12, No. 28, July, 1873
“The captain and purser are gloating over the sycee silver, for the Chinese government is as jealous of its exportation as of the importation of opium; and the sky and the sea are dark and angry.”
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 12, No. 28, July, 1873
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘sycee’.
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Silver
Silvery words. (Mithril doesn't count.)
lessilver, silver, ladysilver, loadsilver, silvery, silversmith, silverwork, silverware, ale-silver, quicksilver, aver-silver, besilver and 242 more...
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5-0
Hecko, words! I’m so happy I’ve found you. I want to keep you all and never want to lose you again. I hope you like it here.
amscray, thistledown, tine, tinsel, pungent, snarl, wail, lanky, viscid, dawdle, luminous, stow and 2719 more...
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Vocabulary of Lord Rahl
Master Rahl guide us.
Master Rahl teach us.
Master Rahl protect us.
In your light we thrive.
In your mercy we are sheltered.
In your wisdom we are humbled.
internecine, antipodal, poliorcetics, haruspex, hejira, conventicle, ultroneous, Myrmidon, epic, fantasy, empire, victory and 121 more...
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