Etymologically
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penny

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 14:52. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈpɛni/; /ˈpɪni/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English peni, inherited from Old English penig (“penny”), pening, Northumbrian penning,[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *panninga-,[2][5] source also of Old Norse penningr, Dutch penning and German Pfennig,[2][3] a word of unknown or uncertain origin;[2][5][6] NODE suggests a relation to pawn and, from the shape, to pan.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

An English coin worth a twelfth of a shilling: before 725 in Barnhart and the OED;[3][8] peni in the Peterborough Chronicle in 1125.[3]

Semantic evolution

The broad silver penny introduced by King Offa about 760–65 remained the main English coin, with minor changes, until the 14th century.[2][6] It rendered Latin denarius from about 950.[8] The Old English plural penegas gave penies and the contracted pens, later spelled pence (16th century), while pennies is a new formation.[5] Word Origins notes that the penny, first of pure silver and later of copper, gave the colloquial coppers, and that the penny has dropped comes from coin-operated slot machines.[6] Since 1971 the British penny has been a hundredth of a pound,[9][10] and in the United States and Canada the word is used for the one-cent coin.[10]

Timeline

  • before 725 – pening.[3]
  • c. 760 – Offa's broad penny.[2]
  • 1125 – peni.[3]
  • 16th century – the plural pence.[5]
  • 1971 – decimal penny.[9]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A British coin worth one hundredth of a pound, or before 1971 a twelfth of a shilling.
  2. (US, Canada) A one-cent coin.

Word family

  • pennied
  • pence
  • penniless
  • pennyworth
  • pfennig

Usage notes

The plural is pennies or pence.[9]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  10. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin