Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of or relating to money.
  • adjective Requiring payment of money.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Relating to money: as, pecuniary affairs or losses.
  • Consisting of money: as, a pecuniary reward or penalty.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Relating to money; monetary

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Of, or relating to, money; monetary, financial.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective relating to or involving money

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin pecūniārius, from pecūnia, property, wealth; see peku- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin pecūniārius, from pecūnia ("money").

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Examples

  • He had always feared that an alliance based on a footing that was so openly "pecuniary," — he declared that the word pecuniary expressed his meaning better than any other epithet, — could not lead to matrimonial happiness.

    The Eustace Diamonds Trollope, Anthony, 1815-1882 1872

  • He had always feared that an alliance based on a footing that was so openly "pecuniary," -- he declared that the word pecuniary expressed his meaning better than any other epithet, -- could not lead to matrimonial happiness.

    The Eustace Diamonds Anthony Trollope 1848

  • It will be of advantage to her, and to me, both in pecuniary and other respects.

    New Letters from Charles Brown to Joseph Severn 2007

  • One out-of-town paper even warned the WMP not to walk the path of religious wrangling, reminding them that in pecuniary matters we may unite, but in religion we never can.

    Advocating The Man: Masculinity, Organized Labor, and the Household in New York, 1800-1840 2006

  • Awarding performance bonuses based on estimated future cash flows and profits eliminates accountability and invites employees to maximize short-term pecuniary goals while risking the company's viability.

    Since Enron, Little Has Changed Malcolm Salter 2008

  • It was whilst undertaking a journey on his behalf, at a time when he was in pecuniary difficulties, that she contracted the illness that resulted in her losing the active use of her lower limbs.

    Memoirs of Mary Robinson Mary Elizabeth Robinson 1895

  • He had always feared that an alliance based on a footing that was so openly “pecuniary” — he declared that the word pecuniary expressed his meaning better than any other epithet — could not lead to matrimonial happiness.

    The Eustace Diamonds 1873

  • The charge I publicly bring against Mr Norton (who has brought so many against me) is a far graver charge than any injustice in pecuniary matters.

    English Laws for Women in the Nineteenth Century 1854

  • [37] See, in Pope's epistle to Lord Bathurst, his sketch of the difficulties and uses of a currency literally "pecuniary" -- (consisting of herds of cattle).

    The Crown of Wild Olive also Munera Pulveris; Pre-Raphaelitism; Aratra Pentelici; The Ethics of the Dust; Fiction, Fair and Foul; The Elements of Drawing John Ruskin 1859

  • If you look at the codes in many states, I don ` t care what your crime was, you don ` t get arrested and thrown behind bars on a technical pecuniary, which is a money infraction, like, you don ` t pay your restitution.

    CNN Transcript Jan 31, 2007 2007

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  • It is likewise astonishing that people select homes, mostly for pecuniary betterment, when their children will mate or mismate with those whom they are thus thrown.

    —Country life in Georgia

    May 11, 2010