‖ écu
(eky)
[Fr.: originally ‘shield’:—L. scutum; according to Littré so called because it bore on one face 3 fleurs-de-lis, like a heraldic shield.]
A French silver coin; commonly regarded as equivalent to the English ‘crown’. Used in 19th-c. France as a name for the five-franc piece.
The relation of the écu to the livre, and its actual value, varied greatly at different periods. There was also a gold écu, similarly variable in nominal and actual value.
| 1704 Royal Proclam. 18 June in Lond. Gaz. No. 4029/1 Ecu's of France, or Silver Lewis..Four Shillings and Six Pence. 1875 Jevons Money xii. 145 The coinage of écus..had been left unrestricted. |