DCHP-2

deuce DCHP-2 (October 2016)

• n. — historical, informal, slang

  a two-dollar bank note.

  Type: 3. Semantic Change — The two-dollar bill was replaced in 1996 by the toonie, the two-dollar coin. Deuce originates with the French for 'two,' deux, and has been used in English since the 16th century in dice and card games; until at least the late 19th-century, a two-pence coin in the UK was informally called a deuce (OED-3, s.v. "deuce", (n1(4)). The Canadian meaning might have been transferred to the Canadian context and may have elements of a Preservation (Type 2), besides the more general qualities of a Semantic Change (Type 3).
  See also COD-2, s.v. "deuce" (4a), which is marked "Cdn hist.".

  See also: toonie