Jump to content
Search

penny

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Penny

English

[edit]
a US penny (2005)

Alternative forms

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]
Etymology tree
Pre-Greekder.?
Ancient Greek πᾰτᾰ́νη (pătắnē)bor.
Latin patina
Latin panna?
Latin pannus?
Proto-Indo-European *-n̥kʷo-der.?
Proto-Indo-European *-nós
Proto-Indo-European *-iHnos
Proto-Germanic *-īnaz
Proto-Indo-European *-kos
Proto-Germanic *-gaz
?
Proto-Germanic *-ingaz
Proto-Germanic *panningaz
Proto-West Germanic *panning
Old English peniġ
Middle English peny
English penny

    From Middle English peny, from Old English peniġ, penniġ, penning (“penny”), from Proto-West Germanic *panning, from Proto-Germanic *panningaz, of uncertain origin (see that page for theories). Doublet of pfennig and fening.

    Pronunciation

    [edit]

    Noun

    [edit]

    penny (plural pennies or pence or (obsolete) pens)

    1. (historical) In the United Kingdom and Ireland and many other countries, a unit of currency worth 1⁄240 of a pound sterling or Irish pound before decimalisation, or a copper coin worth this amount. Abbreviation: d.
      • 1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter I, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [1933], →OCLC, page 0056:
        Thanks to that penny he had just spent so recklessly [on a newspaper] he would pass a happy hour, taken, for once, out of his anxious, despondent, miserable self. It irritated him shrewdly to know that these moments of respite from carking care would not be shared with his poor wife, with careworn, troubled Ellen.
      • 1950 March, H. A. Vallance, “On Foot Across the Forth Bridge”, in Railway Magazine, page 150:
        We had not proceeded very far across the south cantilever when we saw a penny lying beside the track, and another a short distance further on. We were to find several more pennies, and some half-pennies, before we reached the north shore. Inspector Bell explained that many passengers try to throw a coin into the Forth, for "good luck," while trains are crossing the bridge.
      • 2025 June 25, Christian Wolmar, “How slow boats gradually gave way to rail”, in RAIL, number 1038, page 57:
        However he lost out, as other business interests whom he had alienated by his efforts to squeeze every penny of profit from the canal, supported the construction of the railway.
    2. In the United Kingdom, a unit of currency worth 1⁄100 of a pound sterling, or a copper coin worth this amount. Abbreviation: p.
    3. (historical) In Ireland, a coin worth 1⁄100 of an Irish pound before the introduction of the euro. Abbreviation: p.
    4. In the US and (formerly) Canada, a one-cent coin, worth 1⁄100 of a dollar. Abbreviation: ¢.
      • 2015 November 22, “Pennies”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 3, episode 35, John Oliver (actor), via HBO:
        Holy shit! A hundred and eleven pennies! At that point, that dog had more Lincoln in him than Mary Todd.
      • 2025 May 22, Chris Isidore and Matt Egan, “The Treasury unveils its plan to kill the penny”, in CNN Business‎[1]:
        A Treasury spokesperson said the government made its final order of penny blanks this month, and the United States Mint will continue to manufacture pennies only as long as an inventory of penny blanks exists.
    5. In various countries, a small-denomination copper or brass coin.
    6. A unit of nail size, said to be either the cost per 100 nails, or the number of nails per penny. Abbreviation: d.
    7. Money in general.
      to turn an honest penny

    Usage notes

    [edit]
    • The plural pence is only used as a unit of currency. The plural pennies is used for other cases, in particular when referring to multiple individual coins. Seventy pence is a sum of British money (which could be represented by various combinations of coins, a ledger entry, etc.); seventy pennies is seventy physical coins (which could be British or American).
    • The compounds (twopence, threepence, fourpence and so on up to tenpence, but not eleven pence or any higher) should be read with the stress on the first syllable and a reduced /ə/ in pence. Thus /ˈtʌpəns/, /ˈθɹʌpəns/, /ˈfɔːpəns/ and so on.

    Synonyms

    [edit]
    • (1⁄240 of a pound sterling): old penny
    • (1⁄100 of a pound sterling): new penny (old-fashioned)
    • (one-cent coin or its value): cent

    Derived terms

    [edit]

    Descendants

    [edit]
    Descendants

    Translations

    [edit]

    See also

    [edit]

    Verb

    [edit]

    penny (third-person singular simple present pennies, present participle pennying, simple past and past participle pennied)

    1. (slang) To jam a door shut by inserting pennies between the doorframe and the door.
      Zach and Ben had only been at college for a week when their door was pennied by the girls down the hall.
    2. (electronics) To circumvent the tripping of an electrical circuit breaker by the dangerous practice of inserting a coin in place of a fuse in a fuse socket.
    3. (Oxbridge slang) During a meal or as part of a drinking game, to drop a penny in a person's drink with the expectation that they finish it (or some such variation thereof); commonly associated with crewdates at Oxford and swaps at Cambridge.
      You got pennied! Down it, fresher.

    See also

    [edit]

    Anagrams

    [edit]

    Finnish

    [edit]

    Etymology

    [edit]

    Borrowed from English penny.

    Pronunciation

    [edit]

    Noun

    [edit]

    penny

    1. (money) penny (division of a pound)

    Declension

    [edit]
    Inflection of penny (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation)
    nominative penny pennyt
    genitive pennyn pennyjen
    partitive pennyä pennyjä
    illative pennyyn pennyihin
    singular plural
    nominative penny pennyt
    accusative nom. penny pennyt
    gen. pennyn
    genitive pennyn pennyjen
    partitive pennyä pennyjä
    inessive pennyssä pennyissä
    elative pennystä pennyistä
    illative pennyyn pennyihin
    adessive pennyllä pennyillä
    ablative pennyltä pennyiltä
    allative pennylle pennyille
    essive pennynä pennyinä
    translative pennyksi pennyiksi
    abessive pennyttä pennyittä
    instructive — pennyin
    comitative See the possessive forms below.
    Possessive forms of penny (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation)
    first-person singular possessor
    singular plural
    nominative pennyni pennyni
    accusative nom. pennyni pennyni
    gen. pennyni
    genitive pennyni pennyjeni
    partitive pennyäni pennyjäni
    inessive pennyssäni pennyissäni
    elative pennystäni pennyistäni
    illative pennyyni pennyihini
    adessive pennylläni pennyilläni
    ablative pennyltäni pennyiltäni
    allative pennylleni pennyilleni
    essive pennynäni pennyinäni
    translative pennykseni pennyikseni
    abessive pennyttäni pennyittäni
    instructive — —
    comitative — pennyineni
    second-person singular possessor
    singular plural
    nominative pennysi pennysi
    accusative nom. pennysi pennysi
    gen. pennysi
    genitive pennysi pennyjesi
    partitive pennyäsi pennyjäsi
    inessive pennyssäsi pennyissäsi
    elative pennystäsi pennyistäsi
    illative pennyysi pennyihisi
    adessive pennylläsi pennyilläsi
    ablative pennyltäsi pennyiltäsi
    allative pennyllesi pennyillesi
    essive pennynäsi pennyinäsi
    translative pennyksesi pennyiksesi
    abessive pennyttäsi pennyittäsi
    instructive — —
    comitative — pennyinesi
    first-person plural possessor
    singular plural
    nominative pennymme pennymme
    accusative nom. pennymme pennymme
    gen. pennymme
    genitive pennymme pennyjemme
    partitive pennyämme pennyjämme
    inessive pennyssämme pennyissämme
    elative pennystämme pennyistämme
    illative pennyymme pennyihimme
    adessive pennyllämme pennyillämme
    ablative pennyltämme pennyiltämme
    allative pennyllemme pennyillemme
    essive pennynämme pennyinämme
    translative pennyksemme pennyiksemme
    abessive pennyttämme pennyittämme
    instructive — —
    comitative — pennyinemme
    second-person plural possessor
    singular plural
    nominative pennynne pennynne
    accusative nom. pennynne pennynne
    gen. pennynne
    genitive pennynne pennyjenne
    partitive pennyänne pennyjänne
    inessive pennyssänne pennyissänne
    elative pennystänne pennyistänne
    illative pennyynne pennyihinne
    adessive pennyllänne pennyillänne
    ablative pennyltänne pennyiltänne
    allative pennyllenne pennyillenne
    essive pennynänne pennyinänne
    translative pennyksenne pennyiksenne
    abessive pennyttänne pennyittänne
    instructive — —
    comitative — pennyinenne
    third-person possessor
    singular plural
    nominative pennynsä pennynsä
    accusative nom. pennynsä pennynsä
    gen. pennynsä
    genitive pennynsä pennyjensä
    partitive pennyään
    pennyänsä     		pennyjään
    pennyjänsä
    inessive pennyssään
    pennyssänsä     		pennyissään
    pennyissänsä
    elative pennystään
    pennystänsä     		pennyistään
    pennyistänsä
    illative pennyynsä pennyihinsä
    adessive pennyllään
    pennyllänsä     		pennyillään
    pennyillänsä
    ablative pennyltään
    pennyltänsä     		pennyiltään
    pennyiltänsä
    allative pennylleen
    pennyllensä     		pennyilleen
    pennyillensä
    essive pennynään
    pennynänsä     		pennyinään
    pennyinänsä
    translative pennykseen
    pennyksensä     		pennyikseen
    pennyiksensä
    abessive pennyttään
    pennyttänsä     		pennyittään
    pennyittänsä
    instructive — —
    comitative — pennyineen
    pennyinensä

    Further reading

    [edit]

    French

    [edit]

    Etymology

    [edit]

      Borrowed from English penny.

      Pronunciation

      [edit]

      Noun

      [edit]

      penny m (plural pennys)

      1. penny

      Further reading

      [edit]

      Middle English

      [edit]

      Noun

      [edit]

      penny

      1. (Late Middle English) alternative form of peny

      Norwegian Bokmål

      [edit]

      Etymology

      [edit]

        English penny, from Middle English peny, from Old English penning, penniġ, from Proto-Germanic *panningaz. Doublet of penge, penning, and pfennig.

        Pronunciation

        [edit]

        Noun

        [edit]

        penny m (definite singular pennyen, indefinite plural pence or pennyer, definite plural pencene or pennyene)

        1. a penny

        References

        [edit]

        Norwegian Nynorsk

        [edit]

        Etymology

        [edit]

          English penny, from Middle English peny, from Old English penning, penniġ, from Proto-Germanic *panningaz. Doublet of penge, penning, and pfennig.

          Pronunciation

          [edit]

          Noun

          [edit]
          The template Template:nn-noun does not use the parameter(s): 
          3=pence
4=pencane
dp2=pennyane
ip2=pennyar
          Please see Module:checkparams for help with this warning.

          penny m (plural pennyen)

          1. a penny

          References

          [edit]

          Portuguese

          [edit]

          Noun

          [edit]

          penny m (plural pennies)

          1. alternative spelling of péni

          Further reading

          [edit]

          Romanian

          [edit]

          Etymology

          [edit]

          Unadapted borrowing from English penny.

          Noun

          [edit]

          penny m (plural penny)

          1. penny

          Declension

          [edit]
          singular plural
          indefinite definite indefinite definite
          nominative-accusative penny pennyul penny pennyi
          genitive-dative penny pennyului penny pennylor
          vocative pennyule pennylor
          Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=penny&oldid=92367691"
          penny
          Add topic
          Morty Proxy This is a proxified and sanitized view of the page, visit original site.