sequin

What it means

1. historicalAny of various small gold coins minted in Italy and Turkey.

   ‘Let him receive as many robes of honour and thousands of sequins of gold as he hath spoken words.’

   1816, William Beckford, Vathek, Oxford, published 2013, page 10

   1 more example

   English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Georges, and Louises, doubloons and double guineas and moidores and sequins, the pictures of all the kings of Europe for the last hundred years, strange Oriental pices stamped with what looked like wisps of string or its of spider's web, round pieces and square pieces, and pieces bored through the middle, as if to ware them round your neck - nearly every variety of money in the world must, I think, have found a place in that collection...

   1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC

   Synonyms: zecchin

2. fashionA sparkling spangle used for the decoration of ornate clothing.

   Neer imagined Jane in tulle and leather and sequins and knew the answer.

   2022, Janelle Monáe, Danny Lore, “Nevermind”, in The Memory Librarian, Harper Voyager, →ISBN, page 122

   1 more example

   His ideas of music-hall costumes had never gone beyond short skirts, a swirl of lace, and glittering sequins; but Miss Antonia had expressed herself on that subject in no uncertain terms.

   1915, W. Somerset Maugham, chapter CVII, in Of Human Bondage

   Synonyms: paillette

In a sentence

‘Let him receive as many robes of honour and thousands of sequins of gold as he hath spoken words.’

1816, William Beckford, Vathek, Oxford, published 2013, page 10

Where it comes from

1. Arabicسِكَّة“die for coining, coin”
2. Italianzecchino
3. Frenchsequin
4. Englishsequin

Borrowed from French sequin, from Italian zecchino, from zecca (“mint”), from Arabic سِكَّة (sikka, “die for coining, coin”). Doublet of zecchin.