Pin Money
Meaning
Originally a small allowance given to a woman in order to purchase clothes etc. for herself. More recently it is used to describe any small amount of money which might be earned by children or the low-paid for some service.
Origin
The earlier usage is quite old and is alluded to in the 16th century in The Testamenta Eboracensia – A Selection of Wills from the Registry at York, 1542:
“I give my said doughter Margarett my lease of the parsonage of Kirkdall Churche.. to by her pynnes withal.”
The first explicit mention of ‘pin money’ is in John Dryden’s comedy Amphitryon, or the two Sosias, 1690:
“There’s Pin-money, and Ali-money, and Seperate maintenance.”
