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penny

/ˈpɛni/ noun

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about penny at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. A fractional monetary unit of Ireland and the United Kingdom; equal to one hundredth of a pound.
  2. A coin worth one-hundredth of the value of the basic unit.

Origin

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). Doublet of pfennig and fening.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)