sou

sou — noun

1. an extremely small sum of money, almost nothing at all — used especially when sa

1.nounB2
Definition

an extremely small sum of money, almost nothing at all — used especially when saying someone has none left or refuses to accept even the smallest payment

Example

After paying the rent, Indra did not have a sou left for food.

negative: not have a sou

The old fisherman died without a sou, but the village remembered his kindness.

negative: without a sou

Common collocations
  • not a sou
  • without a sou
  • not worth a sou
  • barely a sou
  • never a sou
Synonyms
  • cent

    the most common small monetary unit worldwide, but rarely used idiomatically for 'almost nothing' in the way sou is

  • penny

    a British coin; used similarly in phrases like 'not a penny' but far more frequent in everyday contexts

  • farthing

    a former British coin worth a quarter of a penny; now a purely literary or historical term, comparable to sou in its dated feel

  • dime

    a US ten-cent coin; appears in phrases like 'a dime a dozen' but does not carry the 'zero money' connotation of sou

Antonyms
  • fortune

    a very large amount of money, opposite of a tiny sum

  • wealth

    abundance of valuable resources, contrasting with the near-nothingness implied by sou

Grammar Patterns

not a sou

without a sou

Usage Note

Almost always appears in negative or near-negative contexts (not a sou, without a sou, never a sou, barely a sou). Outside these set patterns the word sounds dated or literary.

Common Mistakes

I found a sou on the street and bought a coffee.
I found a coin on the street and bought a coffee.
Using 'sou' in a positive, literal context sounds unnatural; the word is reserved for negative idiomatic uses or historical references.

2. a small French coin made of copper or bronze that was used in the past, worth on

2.nounB1
Definition

a small French coin made of copper or bronze that was used in the past, worth only a tiny fraction of a franc

Example

Layla found a rusty old sou buried in her grandmother's garden in Lyon.

In 18th-century Paris a single sou could buy a loaf of bread.

historical context: a sou's buying power

Common collocations
  • French sou
  • copper sou
  • bronze sou
  • sou coin
  • five-sou piece
Synonyms
  • centime

    the French cent, also 1/100 of a franc; a sou was worth 5 centimes

  • denier

    an even older French medieval coin, earlier than the sou

  • liard

    a French copper coin worth 3 deniers, roughly contemporary with the sou

Antonyms
  • louis d'or

    a large French gold coin worth many livres, the opposite of a tiny copper sou

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 1: this sense refers to the actual historical coin, not to the idiomatic idea of a tiny sum. If the sentence describes a physical object or a historical buying price, it belongs to this sense.

Common Mistakes

The beggar asked for a sou.
The beggar asked for a coin.
Using 'sou' to mean a present-day coin is confusing; modern readers expect the idiomatic or historical sense.
Idioms

not have a sou (to one's name)

idiom

to have absolutely no money at all, to be completely broke

When Shirin arrived in the city she did not have a sou to her name and slept at the station.

After the bank failure the family was left without a sou and had to rely on neighbours for food.

without a sou

idiom

having no money at all, completely penniless

The poet travelled through Europe without a sou, sleeping under bridges and writing by candlelight.

Yael left her job without a sou saved and immediately began looking for another position.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words can refer to a coin of very small value, but 'sou' (sense 1) is unique in being almost exclusively negative and idiomatic: you say 'not a sou' to mean zero money, not literally one coin. 'Cent' and 'penny' are everyday terms for the smallest denominations in the US and UK, and they too appear in negative phrases ('not a cent', 'not a penny'), but those phrases still feel literal — you could add 'not a single cent'. 'Farthing' is a historical British coin, now only literary, so it patterns like 'sou' in its dated flavour. 'Dime' is a US ten-cent piece and appears in the idiom 'a dime a dozen' (common and cheap), but it does not carry the 'penniless' connotation that 'sou' does. For the emphatic 'completely broke' meaning, 'sou' is the most dramatic choice.

cent ↗penny ↗farthingdime

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

English borrowed 'sou' from French in the early 1800s. The French word itself goes back to Latin 'solidus', the name of a late-Roman gold coin. Over time the meaning shifted from a valuable coin to a tiny copper one, and eventually to the idiomatic sense of 'the smallest possible amount of money'.