DCHP-1 Online

bit † 

• 1 n. See 1880 and 1913 quotes.

  See also: four bits  two bits  six bits  

  • Originally in American use as a translation of Spanish pieca piece of eight, that is, a Spanish dollar. Later, with reference to a real, a small Spanish silver coin, or, especially, one of the bits into which physically large coins were sometimes divided. The term took on various senses in different places during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In current North American use, it may be seen in the slang terms two bits, four bits, and six bits, that is, 25 cents, 50 cents, and 75 cents, respectively.

• 2 n. Obs. a gold nugget.