pretty penny

pen·ny

[pen-ee] noun, plural pen·nies, (especially collectively for 2, 3) pence, adjective
noun
1.
a bronze coin, the 100th part of the dollars of various nations, as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States; one cent.
2.
Also called new penny. a bronze coin and monetary unit of the United Kingdom and various other nations, the 100th part of a pound. Abbreviation: p
3.
a former bronze coin and monetary unit of the United Kingdom and various other nations, the 12th part of a shilling: use phased out in 1971. Abbreviation: d.
4.
a sum of money: He spent every penny he ever earned.
5.
the length of a nail in terms of certain standard designations from twopenny to sixtypenny.
adjective
6.
Stock Exchange. of, pertaining to, or being penny stock: frenzied speculation in the penny market.
00:10
Pretty penny is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
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Idioms
7.
a bad penny, someone or something undesirable.
8.
a pretty penny, Informal. a considerable sum of money: Their car must have cost them a pretty penny.
9.
spend a penny, Chiefly British Slang. to urinate: from the former cost of using a public lavatory.
10.
turn an honest penny, to earn one's living honestly; make money by fair means: He's never turned an honest penny in his life.
Origin:
before 900; Middle English peni, Old English penig, pænig, pen(n)ing, pending, cognate with Old Frisian penning, panning, Old Saxon, Dutch penning, Old High German pfenning, phantinc, phenting (German Pfennig), Old Norse penningr (perhaps < OE); < West Germanic or Germanic *pandingaz, probably equivalent to *pand- pawn2 + *-ingaz -ing3

Related forms
pen·nied, adjective
un·pen·nied, adjective

Can be confused: penne, penny.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
penny (ˈpɛnɪ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n , pl pennies, pence, pennies
1.  Also called (formerly): new penny, p (in Britain) a bronze coin having a value equal to one hundredth of a pound
2.  d (in Britain before 1971) a bronze or copper coin having a value equal to one twelfth of a shilling or one two-hundred-and-fortieth of a pound
3.  a former monetary unit of the Republic of Ireland worth one hundredth of a pound
4.  (in the US and Canada) a cent
5.  a coin of similar value, as used in several other countries
6.  informal chiefly (Brit) (used with a negative) the least amount of money: I don't have a penny
7.  informal chiefly (Brit) a bad penny an objectionable person or thing (esp in the phrase turn up like a bad penny)
8.  informal a pretty penny a considerable sum of money
9.  informal (Brit) spend a penny to urinate
10.  informal chiefly (Brit) the penny dropped the explanation of something was finally realized
11.  two a penny plentiful but of little value
 
[Old English penig, pening; related to Old Saxon penni(n)g, Old High German pfeni(n)c, German Pfennig]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

penny
O.E. pening, penig "penny," from P.Gmc. *panninggaz (cf. O.N. penningr, Swed. pänning, O.Fris. panning, M.Du. pennic, O.H.G. pfenning, Ger. Pfennig, not recorded in Goth., where skatts is used instead), of unknown origin. The English coin was originally set at one-twelfth of a shilling and was of
silver, later copper, then bronze. There are two plural forms: pennies of individual coins, pence collectively. In translations it rendered various foreign coins of small denomination, esp. L. denarius, whence comes its abbreviation d. As Amer.Eng. colloquial for cent, it is recorded from 1889. Penniless "destitute" is attested from c.1310. Pennyweight is O.E. penega gewiht, originally the weight of a silver penny. Penny-a-liner "writer for a journal or newspaper" is attested from 1834. Penny dreadful "cheap and gory fiction" dates from c.1870. Phrase penny-wise and pound-foolish is recorded from 1607.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

penny definition


  1. n.
    a police officer. (A play on copper. See the note at copper.) : The penny over on the corner told the boys to get moving.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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pretty penny definition


  1. n.
    a sizable amount of money. : This watch cost me a pretty penny, and I intend to take care of it.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Easton
Bible Dictionary

Penny definition


(Gr. denarion), a silver coin of the value of about 7 1/2d. or 8d. of our present money. It is thus rendered in the New Testament, and is more frequently mentioned than any other coin (Matt. 18:28; 20:2, 9, 13; Mark 6:37; 14:5, etc.). It was the daily pay of a Roman soldier in the time of Christ. In the reign of Edward III. an English penny was a labourer's day's wages. This was the "tribute money" with reference to which our Lord said, "Whose image and superscription is this?" When they answered, "Caesar's," he replied, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's" (Matt. 22:19; Mark 12:15).

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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