What does "pittance" mean?

A small allowance of food and drink; a scanty meal.

What is a synonym for "pittance"?

Common synonyms include: ace, alms, alms fee, atom, bit, charity.

//ˈpɪtəns// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·College level

Noun

1
A small allowance of food and drink; a scanty meal.
2
an inadequate payment wordnet
3
A meagre allowance of money or wages.
"In the very prime of life, Mr. Glentworth found every prospect gone; he had only a meagre pittance, compared to his former expenditure; but he had neither the habits nor the opportunity of increasing it."
4
A small amount.
"The former residents of Fraguas, who sold up for a pittance, have swung behind the resettlement, happy to see life return to the narrow lanes where they grew up."

"He bought all this furniture for a pittance."

From Middle English pitaunce, from Old French pitance, pitence, from Medieval Latin *pietāntia, from Latin pietās (“piety”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.