grossetto

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian grossetto, diminutive of grosso.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɡɹoʊˈsɛtoʊ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɡɹəʊˈsɛtəʊ/

Noun

grossetto (plural grossetti)

1. (historical, numismatics) An Italian coin of the fourteenth century.
   • 1884, The Antiquary, volume 9:

     A copper piece, called the grossetto, and resembling the grosso in character and design, but having on the reverse the legend TIBI LAVS & GLORIA, made its first appearance under the Doge Veniero (1383-1400) and at a later period we find the half-grossetto (1523-38).

   • 1917, “The Numismatist: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine for Those Interested in Coins, Medals, and Paper Money”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), volume 30:

     Probably the best-known example of this is the grosso, with its varieties, the grossetto and the grossone; these names can of course be traced to the numi grossi, i. e., thick coins, or large denarii originally struck in Bohemia in the thirteenth century.

   • 2013, Benjamin Arbel, Intercultural Contacts in the Medieval Mediterranean:

     However, six years after his death a new double grosso was introduced; from this point on the term grossone would be used for the new large coin, and grossetto for the normal grosso.

Related terms

• grosso
• grossone

Translations

fourteenth-century Italian coin