Wikimore

See also: Penny

English

Alternative forms

peny, penie, pennie (obsolete)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Pre-Greekder.?

Ancient Greek πατάνη (patánē)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

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɛni/Category:English 2-syllable words#PENNY Category:English terms with IPA pronunciation#PENNY
Audio (General American): (file)
Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#PENNY
(pin–pen merger) IPA^(key): /ˈpɪni/Category:English 2-syllable words#PENNY Category:English terms with IPA pronunciation#PENNY
(In compounds like twopenny, dated) IPA^(key): /pəni/Category:English 2-syllable words#PENNY Category:English terms with IPA pronunciation#PENNY
Rhymes: -ɛni Category:Rhymes:English/ɛni#PENNY Category:Rhymes:English/ɛni/2 syllables#PENNY
Hyphenation: pen‧ny

Noun

penny (plural pennies or pence or (obsolete) pens)Category:English lemmas#PENNY Category:English nouns#PENNY Category:English countable nouns#PENNY Category:English nouns with irregular plurals#PENNY Category:English entries with incorrect language header#PENNY Category:Pages with entries#PENNY Category:Pages with 8 entries#PENNY

(historical Category:English terms with historical senses#PENNY) 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.
  Category:English terms with quotations#PENNY
- 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.
  Category:English terms with quotations#PENNY
- 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.
  Category:English terms with quotations#PENNY
In the United Kingdom, a unit of currency worth ¹⁄₁₀₀ of a pound sterling, or a copper coin worth this amount. Abbreviation: p.
(historical Category:English terms with historical senses#PENNY) In Ireland, a coin worth ¹⁄₁₀₀ of an Irish pound before the introduction of the euro. Abbreviation: p.
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.
  Category:English terms with quotations#PENNY
- 2025 May 22, Chris Isidore and Matt Egan, “The Treasury unveils its plan to kill the penny”, in CNN Business‎:
  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.
  Category:English terms with quotations#PENNY
In various countries, a small-denomination copper or brass coin.
A unit of nail size, said to be either the cost per 100 nails, or the number of nails per penny. Abbreviation: d.
Money in general.
to turn an honest pennyCategory:English terms with usage examples#PENNY
- c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:
  What penny hath Rome borne, / What men provided, what munition sent?
  Category:English terms with quotations#PENNY

Usage notes

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

(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

Descendants

→ Bulgarian: пени (peni)
→ Czech: penny
→ Dutch: penny
→ Finnish: penny
→ French: penny
→ German: Penny
→ Hebrew: פֶּנִי (péni)
→ Hindi: पेनी (penī)
→ Hungarian: penny
→ Japanese: ペニー (penī)
→ Korean: 페니 (peni)
→ Macedonian: пе́ни (péni)
→ Malay: peni
→ Māori: pene
→ Marathi: पेनी (penī)
→ Norman: pénîn
→ Norwegian:
Norwegian Bokmål: penny

Norwegian Nynorsk: penny
→ Portuguese: pêni (Brazil), péni (Portugal)
→ Russian: пе́нни (pénni)
→ Swahili: peni
→ Swedish: penny
→ Thai: เพนนี (peen-nii)
→ Turkish: peni
→ Uyghur: پەنى (peni)
→ Volapük: pänid

Translations

1/240 of a pound sterling or Irish pound

Category:Entries with translation boxes#PENNY

Bulgarian: пени (bg) n (peni)Category:Terms with Bulgarian translations#PENNY
Finnish: penny (fi)Category:Terms with Finnish translations#PENNY
French: penny (fr) mCategory:Terms with French translations#PENNY
Hindi: पेनी (hi) f (penī)Category:Terms with Hindi translations#PENNY
Irish: pingin fCategory:Terms with Irish translations#PENNY
Luhya: litong'oloCategory:Terms with Luhya translations#PENNY
Macedonian: пе́ни n (péni)Category:Terms with Macedonian translations#PENNY
Malay: peniCategory:Terms with Malay translations#PENNY
Marathi: पेनी (penī)Category:Terms with Marathi translations#PENNY
Norman: pénîn mCategory:Terms with Norman translations#PENNY
Norwegian:
Bokmål: penny mCategory:Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations#PENNY

Nynorsk: ^{(please verify)} pennyCategory:Terms with Norwegian Nynorsk translations#PENNY Category:Requests for review of Norwegian Nynorsk translations#PENNY
Polish: pens (pl) mCategory:Terms with Polish translations#PENNY
Portuguese: pêni (pt) mCategory:Terms with Portuguese translations#PENNY
Russian: пе́нни (ru) n (pénni)Category:Terms with Russian translations#PENNY, пенс (ru) m (pens)Category:Terms with Russian translations#PENNY
Spanish: penique (es) mCategory:Terms with Spanish translations#PENNY
Swahili: peni (sw)Category:Terms with Swahili translations#PENNY
Volapük: pänid (vo)Category:Terms with Volapük translations#PENNY
Welsh: ceiniog (cy)Category:Terms with Welsh translations#PENNY

1/100 of a pound sterling or British pound

Category:Entries with translation boxes#PENNY

Afrikaans: pennieCategory:Terms with Afrikaans translations#PENNY
Arabic: بِنْس m (bins)Category:Terms with Arabic translations#PENNY
Asturian: penique (ast) mCategory:Terms with Asturian translations#PENNY
Bulgarian: пени (bg) n (peni)Category:Terms with Bulgarian translations#PENNY
Chinese:
Mandarin: 便士 (zh) (biànshì)Category:Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations#PENNY Category:Terms with Mandarin translations#PENNY
Czech: cent (cs)Category:Terms with Czech translations#PENNY, penny (cs)Category:Terms with Czech translations#PENNY
Dutch: penny (nl) mCategory:Terms with Dutch translations#PENNY
Esperanto: pencoCategory:Terms with Esperanto translations#PENNY
Finnish: penny (fi)Category:Terms with Finnish translations#PENNY
French: penny (fr) mCategory:Terms with French translations#PENNY
German: Penny (de) mCategory:Terms with German translations#PENNY
Hebrew: פֶּנִי (péni)Category:Terms with Hebrew translations#PENNY
Hindi: पेनी (hi) f (penī)Category:Terms with Hindi translations#PENNY, पेन्स (hi) f pl (pens)Category:Terms with Hindi translations#PENNY
Hungarian: penny (hu)Category:Terms with Hungarian translations#PENNY
Irish: pingin fCategory:Terms with Irish translations#PENNY, pinginí f plCategory:Terms with Irish translations#PENNY, pingneacha f plCategory:Terms with Irish translations#PENNY, pingineacha f plCategory:Terms with Irish translations#PENNY (Cois Fharraige)
Japanese: ペニー (ja) (penī)Category:Terms with Japanese translations#PENNY
Korean: 페니 (peni)Category:Terms with Korean translations#PENNY
Macedonian: пе́ни n (péni)Category:Terms with Macedonian translations#PENNY
Malay: peniCategory:Terms with Malay translations#PENNY
Māori: kapaCategory:Terms with Māori translations#PENNY, peneCategory:Terms with Māori translations#PENNY
Marathi: पेनी (penī)Category:Terms with Marathi translations#PENNY, पेन्स (pensa)Category:Terms with Marathi translations#PENNY
Norman: pénîn mCategory:Terms with Norman translations#PENNY
Norwegian:
Bokmål: penny mCategory:Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations#PENNY

Nynorsk: ^{(please verify)} pennyCategory:Terms with Norwegian Nynorsk translations#PENNY Category:Requests for review of Norwegian Nynorsk translations#PENNY
Polish: pens (pl) mCategory:Terms with Polish translations#PENNY
Portuguese: pêni (pt) mCategory:Terms with Portuguese translations#PENNY (B), péni (pt) mCategory:Terms with Portuguese translations#PENNY (P)
Russian: пе́нни (ru) n (pénni)Category:Terms with Russian translations#PENNY, пенс (ru) m (pens)Category:Terms with Russian translations#PENNY
Scottish Gaelic: sgillinn fCategory:Terms with Scottish Gaelic translations#PENNY
Spanish: penique (es) mCategory:Terms with Spanish translations#PENNY
Swedish: penny (sv) cCategory:Terms with Swedish translations#PENNY
Thai: เพนนี (peen-nii)Category:Terms with Thai translations#PENNY
Turkish: peni (tr)Category:Terms with Turkish translations#PENNY
Uyghur: پەنى (peni)Category:Terms with Uyghur translations#PENNY, پەنس (pens)Category:Terms with Uyghur translations#PENNY
Volapük: pänid (vo)Category:Terms with Volapük translations#PENNY
Welsh: ceiniog (cy)Category:Terms with Welsh translations#PENNY

one-cent coin in US and Canada — see cent

Verb

penny (third-person singular simple present pennies, present participle pennying, simple past and past participle pennied)Category:English lemmas#PENNY Category:English verbs#PENNY Category:English entries with incorrect language header#PENNY Category:Pages with entries#PENNY Category:Pages with 8 entries#PENNY

(slang Category:English slang#PENNY) 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.Category:English terms with usage examples#PENNY
(electronics Category:en:Electronics#PENNY) 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.
(Oxbridge slang Category:en:Universities#PENNY Category:Cambridge University slang#PENNY Category:Oxford University slang#PENNY) 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.Category:English terms with usage examples#PENNY

Anagrams

Pynne

Category:English nouns with irregular plurals#PENNY Category:en:Coins#PENNY Category:en:Currencies#PENNY

Finnish

Etymology

Borrowed from English Category:Finnish terms borrowed from English#PENNY Category:Finnish terms derived from English#PENNY penny.

Pronunciation

Noun

pennyCategory:Finnish lemmas#PENNY Category:Finnish nouns#PENNY Category:Finnish entries with incorrect language header#PENNY Category:Pages with entries#PENNY Category:Pages with 8 entries#PENNY

(money Category:fi:Money#PENNY) penny (division of a pound)

Declension

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
accusative	gen.	pennyn	pennyt
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
accusative	gen.	pennyni	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
accusative	gen.	pennysi	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
accusative	gen.	pennymme	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
accusative	gen.	pennynne	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
accusative	gen.	pennynsä	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

Category:Finnish valo-type nominals#PENNY

French

Middle English

Noun

pennyCategory:Middle English alternative forms#PENNY Category:Middle English entries with incorrect language header#PENNY Category:Pages with entries#PENNY Category:Pages with 8 entries#PENNY

(Late Middle English Category:Late Middle English#PENNY) alternative form of peny

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

English Category:Norwegian Bokmål terms borrowed from English#PENNY Category:Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from English#PENNY penny, from Middle English Category:Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Middle English#PENNY peny, from Old English Category:Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Old English#PENNY penning, penniġ, from Proto-Germanic Category:Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Proto-Germanic#PENNY *panningaz. Doublet of penge, penning, and pfennigCategory:Norwegian Bokmål doublets#PENNY.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈpɛn.nɪ/Category:Norwegian Bokmål terms with IPA pronunciation#PENNY

Noun

penny m (definite singular pennyen, indefinite plural pence or pennyer, definite plural pencene or pennyene)Category:Norwegian Bokmål lemmas#PENNY Category:Norwegian Bokmål nouns#PENNY Category:Norwegian Bokmål entries with incorrect language header#PENNY Category:Norwegian Bokmål masculine nouns#PENNY Category:Pages with entries#PENNY Category:Pages with 8 entries#PENNY

a penny

References

“penny” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
“penny” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Category:nb:Coins#PENNY

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

English Category:Norwegian Nynorsk terms borrowed from English#PENNY Category:Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from English#PENNY penny, from Middle English Category:Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from Middle English#PENNY peny, from Old English Category:Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from Old English#PENNY penning, penniġ, from Proto-Germanic Category:Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from Proto-Germanic#PENNY *panningaz. Doublet of penge, penning, and pfennigCategory:Norwegian Nynorsk doublets#PENNY.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈpɛn.nɪ/Category:Norwegian Nynorsk terms with IPA pronunciation#PENNY

Noun

^{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.}

Category:Pages using invalid parameters when calling Template:nn-noun#PENNY

penny m (plural pennyen)Category:Norwegian Nynorsk lemmas#PENNY Category:Norwegian Nynorsk nouns#PENNY Category:Norwegian Nynorsk entries with incorrect language header#PENNY Category:Norwegian Nynorsk masculine nouns#PENNY Category:Pages with entries#PENNY Category:Pages with 8 entries#PENNY

a penny

References

“penny” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Category:nn:Coins#PENNY

Portuguese

Noun

penny m (plural pennies)Category:Portuguese lemmas#PENNY Category:Portuguese nouns#PENNY Category:Portuguese countable nouns#PENNY Category:Portuguese terms spelled with Y#PENNY Category:Portuguese entries with incorrect language header#PENNY Category:Portuguese masculine nouns#PENNY Category:Pages with entries#PENNY Category:Pages with 8 entries#PENNY

alternative spelling of péni

Romanian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English Category:Romanian terms borrowed from English#PENNY Category:Romanian unadapted borrowings from English#PENNY Category:Romanian terms derived from English#PENNY penny.

Noun

penny m (plural penny)Category:Romanian lemmas#PENNY Category:Romanian nouns#PENNY Category:Romanian countable nouns#PENNY Category:Romanian terms spelled with Y#PENNY Category:Romanian entries with incorrect language header#PENNY Category:Romanian masculine nouns#PENNY Category:Pages with entries#PENNY Category:Pages with 8 entries#PENNY

penny

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	penny	pennyul	penny	pennyi
genitive-dative	penny	pennyului	penny	pennylor
vocative	pennyule		pennylor

Wikimore

penny

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Usage notes

Synonyms

Derived terms

Descendants

Translations

See also

Verb

See also

Anagrams

Finnish

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

French

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Further reading

Middle English

Noun

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

References

Portuguese

Noun

Further reading

Romanian

Etymology

Noun

Declension