different between penny vs halfpenny

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

English

Alternative forms

• (with the first element, half, preserved) halfepenny, halfepeny, halfepenie, halfepenye; halfpenny, halfpeny, halfpenie, halfpenye (all obsolete except halfpenny)
• (with the first element reduced to hal-, ha’, or ha-) halpeny, halpenye, hapeney, ha’penny, hapenny, happenny (all obsolete except ha’penny)
• (with the first element corrupted to haw-) hawpny (dialectal, obsolete)
• (pre-decimalisation abbreviation) ½d

Etymology

From the Middle English halpeni, either from the late-Old English halpenige or from half +? peni; equivalent to half +? penny and continually reinforced by that surface analysis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?he?p(?)ni/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?h??f?p?ni/ (spelling pronunciation)

Noun

halfpenny (plural halfpennies or halfpence)

1. (plural: halfpennies) (historical) A discontinued British coin worth half of one penny (old or new).
   • Christmas is coming (traditional carol)

     If you haven't got a penny, / A ha'penny will do, / If you haven't got a ha'penny, / Then God bless you.

2. (plural: halfpence) A quantity of money worth half a penny.
   • 1599, William Shakespeare, As You Like It (act III, scene 2)

     There were none principal; they were all like one another as halfpence are; every one fault seeming monstrous till his fellow fault came to match it.

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

halfpenny (not comparable)

1. Costing or worth one halfpenny.
   • 1594, William Shakespeare, King Henry VI, Part 2 (act IV, scene 2)

     There shall be in England seven halfpenny loaves sold for a penny; the three-hooped pot shall have ten hoops; and I will make it felony to drink small beer.