macoute

Noun

1. An abstract measure of value, said to be used by various peoples of Africa.
   • The second example is found among the savages upon the African coast of Angola, where there is no real money known. The inhabitants there reckon by macoutes; and in some places this denomination is subdivided into...
   • The macoute, or unit of valuation, is neither actual nor visible, because it is entirely abstract and ideal, like all units. It is a method of measuring the value of one commodity by comparing it with another, through...
   • The Negroes on the coast of Africa have a sign of value without money. It is a sign merely ideal, founded on the degree of esteem which they fix in their minds for all merchandise, in proportion to the need they have of...