penny
pronunciation
How to pronounce penny in British English:
UK [ˈpeni]
How to pronounce penny in American English:
US [ˈpeni]
-
- Noun:
- a fractional monetary unit of Ireland and the United Kingdom; equal to one hundredth of a pound
- a coin worth one-hundredth of the value of the basic unit
Word Origin
- penny
- penny: [OE] Penny comes from a prehistoric Germanic *panninggaz, which also produced German pfennig and Dutch and Swedish penning. It has been speculated that this was derived from *pand- ‘pledge, security’, which also produced English pawn – in which case it would denote etymologically a ‘coin used in transactions involving the pledging of a sum as security’.=> pawn
- penny (n.)
- Old English pening, penig, Northumbrian penning "penny," from Proto-Germanic *panninggaz (cognates: Old Norse penningr, Swedish pänning, Danish penge, Old Frisian panning, Old Saxon pending, Middle Dutch pennic, Dutch penning, Old High German pfenning, German Pfennig, not recorded in Gothic, where skatts is used instead), of unknown origin. Offa's reformed coinage on light, broad flans is likely to have begun c.760-5 in London, with an awareness of developments in Francia and East Anglia. ... The broad flan penny established by Offa remained the principal denomination, with only minor changes, until the fourteenth century. [Anna Gannon, "The Iconography of Early Anglo-Saxon Coinage," Oxford, 2003] The English coin was originally set at one-twelfth of a shilling and was of silver, later copper, then bronze. There are two plural forms: pennies of individual coins, pence collectively. In translations it rendered various foreign coins of small denomination, especially Latin denarius, whence comes its abbreviation d. As American English colloquial for cent, it is recorded from 1889. Penny-a-liner "writer for a journal or newspaper" is attested from 1834. Penny dreadful "cheap and gory fiction" dates from c. 1870. Phrase penny-wise and pound-foolish is recorded from c. 1600. Penny-pincher "miserly person" is recorded from 1906 (as an adjective penny-pinching is recorded from 1858, American English). Penny loafers attested from 1960.
Example
- 1. How important is that swing of a penny ?
- 2. A disk of round flat bread costs about a penny .
- 3. I will not spend a single penny for the purpose of rewarding a single wall street executive , but I will do whatever it takes to help the small business that can 't pay its workers or the family that has saved and still can 't get a mortgage .
- 4. Throw every other penny you possibly can at the debt with the lowest balance .
- 5. We went to see papa , granny and that penny candy counter every saturday .