Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Penny

Pen′ny (pĕn′ny̆), a. [Perh. a corruption of pun, for pound.] Denoting pound weight for one thousand; — used in combination, with respect to nails; as, tenpenny nails, nails of which one thousand weight ten pounds.

Pen·ny, n.; pl. Pennies (#) or Pence. Pennies denotes the number of coins; pence the amount of pennies in value. [OE. peni, AS. penig, pening, pending; akin to D. penning, OHG. pfenning, pfenting, G. pfennig, Icel. penningr; of uncertain origin.] 1. An English coin, formerly of copper, now of bronze, the twelfth part of an English shilling in account value, and equal to four farthings, or about two cents; — usually indicated by the abbreviation d. (the initial of denarius).

☞ "The chief Anglo-Saxon coin, and for a long period the only one, corresponded to the denarius of the Continent . . . [and was] called penny, denarius, or denier." R. S. Poole. The ancient silver penny was worth about three pence sterling (see Pennyweight). The old Scotch penny was only one twelfth the value of the English coin. In the United States the word penny is popularly used for cent.

2. Any small sum or coin; a groat; a stiver. Shak.

3. Money, in general; as, to turn an honest penny.

What penny hath Rome borne, What men provided, what munition sent? Shak.

4. (Script.) See Denarius.

Penny cress (Bot.), an annual herb of the Mustard family, having round, flat pods like silver pennies (Thlaspi arvense). Dr. Prior. — Penny dog (Zoöl.), a kind of shark found on the South coast of Britain: the tope. — Penny father, a penurious person; a niggard. [Obs.] Robinson (More's Utopia). — Penny grass (Bot.), pennyroyal. [R.] — Penny post, a post carrying a letter for a penny; also, a mail carrier. — Penny wise, wise or prudent only in small matters; saving small sums while losing larger; — used chiefly in the phrase, penny wise and pound foolish.

Pen′ny (pĕn′ny̆), a. Worth or costing one penny.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.