different between farthing vs penny

English

Etymology

From Middle English ferthing, from Old English f?orþing, f?orþung (“a quarter, fourth part, farthing”), from f?orþa (“fourth”), from Proto-Germanic *fedurþungaz (“a quarter”), probably influenced by Old Norse fjórðungr (“a fourth part, quarter”). Equivalent to fourth +? -ing.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?f??(?).ð??/
• Rhymes: -??(?)ð??

Noun

farthing (plural farthings)

1. (historical) Former British unit of currency worth one-quarter of an old penny; or a coin representing this.
   • 1883, Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, Chapter V:

     "Nay, Heaven forbid, indeed," quoth Robin, "that I should take from such as thee, jolly fellow! Not so much as one farthing would I take from thee, for I love a fair Saxon face like thine right well—more especially when it cometh from Locksley Town, and most especially when the man that owneth it is to marry a bonny lass on Thursday next. But come, tell me for what price thou wilt sell me all of thy meat and thy horse and cart."

   • 1895, Parliament of Western Australia, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly VIII, page 163:

     We must keep them to the fact that the duty is one and three quarter farthings, or nearly a half-penny in the pound and no more, and any one who tries to work it out any other way is not acting fairly in the matter.

   • I had never defrauded a man of a farthing, nor called him knave behind his back. But now the last rag that covered my nakedness had been torn from me. I was branded a blackleg, card-sharper, and murderer.

2. (figuratively) A very small quantity or value; the least possible amount.

   Synonyms: jot, shred, whit

   • 1927-29, M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, translated 1940 by Mahadev Desai, Part I, Chapter xvi:

     That period of infatuation was not unrelieved by a certain amount of self-introspection on my part. I kept account of every farthing I spent, and my expenses were carefully calculated. Every little item such as omnibus fares or postage or a couple of coppers spent on newspapers, would be entered, and the balance struck every evening before going to bed. That habit has stayed with me ever since, and I know that as a result, though I have had to handle public funds amounting to lakhs, I have succeeded in exercising strict economy in their disbursement, and instead of outstanding debts have had invariably a surplus balance in respect of all the movements I have led.

3. (obsolete) A division of land.

Derived terms

Translations

Middle English

Noun

farthing

1. Alternative form of ferthing

English

Etymology

From Middle English peny, from Old English penning, penni?, from Proto-Germanic *panningaz, of uncertain origin (see that page for theories). Doublet of pfennig.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p?.ni/
• Rhymes: -?ni
• (in compounds like "twopenny", dated) IPA^(key): /p?ni/

Noun

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

1. (historical) In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a copper coin worth ¹?₂₄₀ of a pound sterling or Irish pound before decimalisation. Abbreviation: d.

   • 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.

2. In the United Kingdom, a copper coin worth ¹?₁₀₀ of a pound sterling. 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 Canada, a one-cent coin, worth ¹?₁₀₀ of a dollar. Abbreviation: ¢.
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.

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.

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 /?/ in pence. Thus /?t?p?ns/, /????p?ns/, /?f??p?ns/ 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): cent

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

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.

See also

• d
• cent
• the penny drops

Anagrams

• Pynne

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English penny.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p?.ni/

Noun

penny m (plural pennys)

1. penny

Further reading

• “penny” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Portuguese

Noun

penny m (plural pennies)

1. Alternative spelling of péni