What does doit mean?
A doit was a small copper coin minted in the Low Countries, particularly the Netherlands, where it circulated as one of the lowest denominations of value. Because it represented so little money, English speakers adopted the word figuratively to mean any trifling sum or thing of negligible worth. The word is now obsolete in its monetary sense but lingers in literary language, most famously in negative constructions such as 'not worth a doit' — an expression Shakespeare put into the mouths of his characters. Readers encounter doit mainly in historical writing about early modern European currency, or in classic literature where characters dismiss something as utterly valueless. Though rarely used in contemporary speech, it remains a vivid example of how the vocabulary of everyday commerce can survive as colorful idiom long after the coins themselves have vanished from circulation.
nounA doit is an obsolete Dutch copper coin of very low value, formerly used in trade; by extension, it came to mean the smallest possible sum or anything of negligible worth.
- An obsolete Dutch copper coin of very small value.
- A trivial or negligible amount of money; anything of minimal worth (now chiefly in negative phrases like 'not worth a doit').
"He swore he wouldn't pay a doit for such shoddy workmanship."
"The old ledger recorded payments made in stivers and doits, the smallest copper coins then circulating."
""I wouldn't give a doit for his opinion," she said dismissively."
Regular plural; used when referring to multiple of the historical coins.
"The merchant's purse held a few doits and a handful of stivers."
Shakespeare's characters sneered at things 'not worth a doit' — a coin so worthless it survives today mostly as an insult.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of doit
Doit comes from the Dutch 'duit', a small copper coin that circulated in the Netherlands from around the late medieval period into the eighteenth century. The Dutch word itself likely derives from Middle Dutch 'duyt'. English borrowed the term in the sixteenth century as Dutch coins circulated widely in English trade, and it quickly took on the figurative sense of a trifling amount. Its enduring presence owes much to Shakespeare, who used it several times in expressions of contempt for things of little value.
How doit is actually used
Archaic and literary. Today the word appears almost exclusively in historical contexts or in fossilized negative expressions such as 'not worth a doit', familiar chiefly to readers of older English literature.
Easily confused with doit
A 'dot' is a tiny round mark or point, whereas a 'doit' is an obsolete Dutch coin meaning something of trifling value.