Meanings
paisa1
plural paisas · plural paise · alternative baisa · alternative baiza · alternative poysha · alternative poisha · alternative pice · alternative pesa · alternative pajsa
- A subdivision of currency, equal to one hundredth of a Bangladeshi taka.
- historicalA subdivision of various former currencies of India.
paisa2
plural paisas
- slangA person hailing from the same country; in particular, a fellow Latino.
1 more example
... prison, talked about his relationship with drug traffickers in Mexico some twenty-five years before. His street gang had a relationship with a paisa wholesaler. An understanding of respect existed between Rubén's gang and its paisa supplier[…] Wrangler, a White man who associated with the Aryan Brotherhood while in priso, described how the changing demographics of his neighborhood led to his being introduced to paisas who were moving meth in from Mexico. […] Wrangler went on to describe a specific contact from his neighborhood, Carlos, who […] had gone on to become part of a Latino stret gang and later a prison gang and had a connection with a wholesaler.
2022 August 15, Rajeev V. Gundur, Trying to Make It: The Enterprises, Gangs, and People of the American Drug Trade, Cornell University Press, →ISBN, page 168 - slangA Latino who is not a gangster nor gang-affiliated.
[The story] came to me in various versions from marero and paisa inmates who had been incarcerated in the early 2000s. “El Spyder. I knew him. He was sureño,” said Carlos, an[…]
2018 November 6, Anthony W. Fontes, Mortal Doubt: Transnational Gangs and Social Order in Guatemala City, Univ of California Press, →ISBN, page 86
Origin
paisa · noun
- Sanskrit*पदांश
- Sauraseni Prakrit*𑀧𑀬𑀁𑀲
- Urduپَیسَہ
- Hindiपैसा
- Englishpaisa
From Hindi पैसा (paisā) / Urdu پَیسَہ (paisa), from Sauraseni Prakrit *𑀧𑀬𑀁𑀲 (*payaṃsa), presumably from unattested Sanskrit *पदांश (*padāṃśa), from पद (pada, “quarter”) + अंश (aṃśa, “part, piece”) in reference its historical value of ¹⁄₄ anna.
More words from Hindi, Urdu, Sauraseni Prakrit
Full word history & related roots →paisa · noun
- Spanishpaisa
- Englishpaisa
From Spanish paisa, a shortening of paisano.
More words from Spanish
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with paisa
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
paisa. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paisa
“paisa.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paisa. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “paisa,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paisa.
Source: paisa on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.