pecuniary

pecuniary — adjective

1. having to do with money, especially payment, profit, loss, or cash value

1.adjectiveC2
Definition

having to do with money, especially payment, profit, loss, or cash value

Example

The judge awarded pecuniary damages for Maria's lost wages and hospital bills.

collocation: pecuniary damages

Investors avoided the charity deal because it offered no pecuniary return.

pattern: no pecuniary return

Common collocations
  • pecuniary damages
  • pecuniary loss
  • pecuniary interest
  • pecuniary reward
  • pecuniary value
Synonyms
  • financial

    is the broad everyday word for money matters

  • monetary

    often focuses on sums of money, value, or money supply

  • fiscal

    is mainly used for tax, government budgets, and public finance

Grammar Patterns

pecuniary + loss / damages / interest / reward / value

Usage Note

Mostly seen in law, business, and official writing. It usually comes before nouns such as loss, damages, interest, reward, or value; in everyday English, speakers more often say money or financial.

Common Mistakes

The company has pecuniary problems.
The company has financial problems.
'pecuniary' is very formal and is used with a limited set of money-related nouns.

Word family

  • pecuniarily
    adverbC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

For adjective/1, pecuniary is the most formal option and is often used in legal or official writing when the point is direct money gain, loss, interest, or compensation. Financial is the broad everyday word for money matters in general, so people talk about financial problems, financial planning, or financial advice. Monetary is narrower and often points to amounts of money, value, or the money system itself, as in monetary policy or monetary value. Fiscal is mostly used for tax, budgets, and government spending. Economic is broader still and can describe jobs, trade, prices, or whole national systems, not just money itself. A court may award pecuniary damages, while a family may face financial trouble.

financial ↗monetary ↗fiscal ↗economic ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • pecuniary damages
  • pecuniary loss
  • pecuniary interest
  • pecuniary reward
  • pecuniary value

Phrases

  • have a pecuniary interest
  • seek pecuniary gain
  • be of pecuniary value

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

English borrowed pecuniary from French and Latin. The Latin word pecuniarius meant 'connected with money' and came from pecunia, meaning money or property. That Latin noun is related to pecu, meaning cattle, which reflects an older world in which livestock counted as a form of wealth.