Hist. Pl. louis. Also 7–8 in English form lewis, pl. lewis(’s. [F. louis, appellative use of the Christian name borne by many French kings.] = LOUIS D’OR. Also † Silver Lewis: the French écu of the 17–18th c.
1689. Lond. Gaz., No. 2498/4. They took away … a quantity of Broad Pieces, Guinea’s, Lewis’s, Medals, &c.
1704. Royal Proclam., 18 June, ibid. No. 4029/1. Ecu’s of France, or Silver Lewis, Seventeen Peny-weight Twelve Grains, Four Shillings and Six Pence.
1794. Mrs. Radcliffe, Myst. Udolpho, v. He threw down all the money he had, except a very few louis.
1818. Byron, Juan, I. cviii. A good deal may be bought for fifty Louis.
1900. Ld. Rosebery, Napoleon, iii. 54. He sends with the challenge a gun and six louis which he had borrowed of his enemy.
