Etymology 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.
Historical 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.
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.1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter I, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [1933], →OCLC, page 0056:
We had not proceeded very far across the south cantilever when we saw a penny lying beside the track, and another a short distance further on. We were to find several more pennies, and some half-pennies, before we reached the north shore. Inspector Bell explained that many passengers try to throw a coin into the Forth, for "good luck," while trains are crossing the bridge.1950 March, H. A. Vallance, “On Foot Across the Forth Bridge”, in Railway Magazine, page 150:
1 more example
However he lost out, as other business interests whom he had alienated by his efforts to squeeze every penny of profit from the canal, supported the construction of the railway.2025 June 25, Christian Wolmar, “How slow boats gradually gave way to rail”, in RAIL, number 1038, page 57:
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In the United Kingdom, a unit of currency worth ¹⁄₁₀₀ of a pound sterling, or a copper coin worth this amount. Abbreviation: p.
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Historical In Ireland, a coin worth ¹⁄₁₀₀ of an Irish pound before the introduction of the euro. Abbreviation: p.
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In the US and (formerly) Canada, a one-cent coin, worth ¹⁄₁₀₀ of a dollar. Abbreviation: ¢.
Holy shit! A hundred and eleven pennies! At that point, that dog had more Lincoln in him than Mary Todd.2015 November 22, “Pennies”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 3, episode 35, John Oliver (actor), via HBO:
A Treasury spokesperson said the government made its final order of penny blanks this month, and the United States Mint will continue to manufacture pennies only as long as an inventory of penny blanks exists.2025 May 22, Chris Isidore and Matt Egan, “The Treasury unveils its plan to kill the penny”, in CNN Business:
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In various countries, a small-denomination copper or brass coin.
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A unit of nail size, said to be either the cost per 100 nails, or the number of nails per penny. Abbreviation: d.
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Money in general.
to turn an honest penny
What penny hath Rome borne, / What men provided, what munition sent?c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:
Etymology 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.
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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.
During a meal or as part of a drinking game, to drop a penny in a person's drink with the expectation that they finish it (or some such variation thereof); commonly associated with crewdates at Oxford and swaps at Cambridge.