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Mont de Piété. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
Mont de Piété, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
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English
Etymology
French
Noun
Mont de Piété (plural Monts de Piété)
- A European pawnbroking establishment, especially one with charitable aims.
1924, Edward Verrall Lucas, A Wanderer in Paris, →ISBN:It is interesting to note that one of the entrances to the Mont de Piété is reserved for clients who wish to raise money on deeds, and I have seen cabmen very busy in bringing to it people who quite shamelessly hold their papers in their hands.
2014, Sarah Lee, Memoirs of Baron Cuvier, →ISBN, page 165:She has founded and regulated a sort of Mont de Piété, of a peculiar kind, which would be an admirable institution elsewhere, if it could be multiplied like the infant schools; for it is among the very small number of those which merit the name given to them, for money is there lent without interest and without securities.
2014, Emmauska Orczy, Castles in the Air, →ISBN:Well, I did not find that, but I did find the receipt from the Mont de Piété for a parure of emeralds on which half a million francs had been lent.
Usage notes
The term originated from the name of a specific establishment run by the Catholic church, originally in Italy, and then throughout Europe. Over time, the term has been generalized to refer to any European pawnbroker.