Meanings
stiver1
plural stivers
- Anything of small value.
’Tis not worth a single stiver, said the bandy-leg'd drummer.
1761, Laurence Sterne, The Life & Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, volume 4, Penguin, published 2003, page 2231 more example
[A]ll hands, including the captain, received certain shares of the profits called lays […] And though the 275th lay was what they call a rather long lay, yet it was better than nothing; and if we had a lucky voyage, might pretty nearly pay for the clothing I would wear out on it, not to speak of my three years' beef and board, for which I would not have to pay one stiver.
1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “chapter 16”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC
Stiver2
Origin
- Dutchstuiver
- Englishstiver
From Dutch stuiver, cognate with Middle Low German stüver.
More words from Dutch
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Dutch stuiver
- stuiversmall Dutch coin worth one twentieth of a guilder
Finnish styyveri
- styyverismall Dutch coin worth one twentieth of a guilder
Swedish styver
- styversmall Dutch coin worth one twentieth of a guilder
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
stiver. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stiver
“stiver.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stiver. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “stiver,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stiver.
Source: stiver on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.