English
penny
Penny may come from Middle English peny ‘a penny or other silver coin’.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500peny‘a penny or other silver coin’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1596penny
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500peny‘a penny or other silver coin’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1596penny
Earliest quotation: c. 1596, William Shakespeare, The Life and Death of King Iohn: “What penny hath Rome borne, / What men provided,…”
The story
From Middle English peny, from Old English peniġ, penniġ, penning (‘penny’), from Proto-West Germanic *panning, from Proto-Germanic *panningaz, of uncertain origin (see that page for theories).disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it.
Linked words
through Proto-Italic *pondos
through Latin pondus ‘weight’
Today it means
noun 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.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English peny / penny