sapeca

sapeca (plural sapecas)

1. Alternative form of sapek (“Vietnamese coin”).

Apparently Malay sa (“one”) +‎ Malay paku (“thread of one hundred pichi coins”). Originally described a round coppern coin (hence sense 2), with a square hole in the centre, formerly used in China. Term formerly used jocularly to imitate Macanese,^[1] however is now the most common term to refer to money, this development possibly being a (relatively old) semantic loan from Cantonese 錢 / 钱. Compare French sapèque, from the same Malay origin.

sapeca

1. money^[2]

   Iou nôm têm sapeca

   I don't have money

2. coin

• sapeca fêmea

• pataca (“currency of Macau”)

• Rhymes: -ɛkɐ
• Hyphenation: sa‧pe‧ca

Deverbal from sapecar.^[1][2][3]

sapeca m or f (plural sapecas)

1. mischievous (causing mischief)

sapeca m or f by sense (plural sapecas)

1. a mischievous child

From Malay sa (“one”) + paku (“thread of one hundred pichi coins”). Cognate with French sapèque.

sapeca f (plural sapecas)

1. a round Chinese copper coin

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

sapeca

1. inflection of sapecar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative