Meanings
groat1
groat2
plural groats
- archaichistoricalAny of various old coins of England and Scotland.
The Widdow that hath but a pan of braſſe, And ſcarſe a houſe to hide her head, Sometimes no penny to buy her bread, Muſt pay her Landlord many a groat, Or twil be puld out of her throat:
1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], →OCLC, Act I- archaichistoricalAny unit of currency worth four pence.
- archaichistoricalA historical English coin representing such a unit: a silver coin worth four English pennies, still minted as one of the set of Maundy coins.
The needy groom, that never finger'd groat, Would make a miracle of thus much coin …
c. 1589–1590 (date written), Christopher Marlo[we], edited by Tho[mas] Heywood, The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Iew of Malta. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Nicholas Vavasour, […], published 1633, →OCLC, Act ISynonyms: fourpence
Groat3
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA historical English coin representing such a unit: a silver coin worth four English pennies, still minted as one of the set of Maundy coins.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
groat · noun
- Proto-Germanic*grutą
- Proto-West Germanic*grot
- Old Englishgrot
- Middle Englishgrot
- Englishgroat
From Middle English grot, from Old English grot, from Proto-West Germanic *grot, from Proto-Germanic *grutą, related to *greutą. More at grit, grout.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →groat · noun
- Middle Dutchgroot
- Englishgroat
Possibly from Middle Dutch groot, the Old French gros Tournois (“a coin of Tours”), gros being from Medieval Latin denarius grossus (“large coin”). Related to German Groschen.
More words from Middle Dutch
Full word history & related roots →Groat · proper noun
- Old Norsegrautr“porridge”
- EnglishGroat
* As a Scottish surname, nickname from Old Norse grautr (“porridge”). Compare Grout. * Also as a Scottish surname, variant of Grote. * As a German, Dutch and Danish surname, variant of Groth, Groot, Grott, and Grad.
More words from Old Norse
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἄλφιτα
- ἄλφιτα (álphita)hulled grain
Bulgarian булгур
- булгур (bulgur)hulled grain
Czech kroupa
- kroupahulled grain
Danish gryn
- grynhulled grain
Dutch gort
- gorthulled grain
Esperanto kvar'penco
- kvar'pencoEnglish silver four penny coin
Estonian kruup
- kruuphulled grain
Finnish suurimo, ryyni
- suurimohulled grain
- ryynihulled grain
German Graupe, Grütze
- Graupehulled grain
- Grützehulled grain
Irish piocuaran, bonn bán
- piocuaranhulled grain
- bonn bánEnglish silver four penny coin
Japanese グロート
- グロート (gurōto)English silver four penny coin
Latvian putraimi
- putraimihulled grain
Norwegian gryn
- grynhulled grain
Polish krupa, groat
- krupahulled grain
- groatEnglish silver four penny coin
Russian крупа́
- крупа́ (krupá)hulled grain
Scottish Gaelic gròt
- gròtEnglish silver four penny coin
Slovak krúpa
- krúpahulled grain
Spanish granos
- granoshulled grain
Swedish gryn
- grynhulled grain
Ukrainian крупа́
- крупа́ (krupá)hulled grain
Welsh rhynionyn, talch
- rhynionynhulled grain
- talchhulled grain
- grôtEnglish silver four penny coin
- pisyn grôtEnglish silver four penny coin
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with groat
Anagrams
Cite this entry
groat. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/groat
“groat.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/groat. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “groat,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/groat.
Source: groat on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.