Coyne

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. Money in the form of coins or cash used for transactions and commerce
2. Currency consisting of metallic pieces of standardized value accepted as payment
3. Coined money or specie used as a medium of exchange in commerce and daily transactions

Etymology: Coyne is a surname rather than a common word, and its story is one of Irish naming habits. It is an anglicized form of the Irish "Ó Cuáin", meaning "descendants of Cuán". Cuán was a personal name built on "cú", the Irish word for "hound" or "dog", through a diminutive form, so the surname essentially means "the descendants of little hound." The same written shape can also come from a different Irish family name, "Ó Cadhain", so the English spelling does not reveal which family a given Coyne descends from. Irish surnames with the "Ó" prefix, meaning "grandson" or "descendant", were widely anglicized in this way, and spelling variants multiplied as English-speaking officials and families recorded names by sound.