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halfpenny

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halfpenny¹

  • /ˈheɪp(ə)ni/ UK
  • /ˌhɑːfˈpɛni/ UK
  • /ˈheɪp(ə)ni/ US
  • /ˌhæfˈpɛni/ US

Rhymes with (one pronunciation) -ɛni

Where it comes from

From Middle English halpeni, halfpeni (“English coin worth half a penny; coin used in biblical times; small foreign coin”), and then either:

* from half (“half”) (from Old English healf; ultimate etymology unknown, possible from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to incline”) or *(s)kelH- (“to cut; to separate, split”)) + peni, penni (“English coin; coin used in biblical times; foreign coin; (especially in the plural) cash, money; pennyweight”) (from Old English penning, from Proto-Germanic *panningaz (“coin, penny”); further etymology uncertain); or

* from Late Old English halpene, halpenige (which can also be construed as early Middle English), from healf + penning (see above).

By surface analysis, half + penny.

noun halfpennies · halfpence · halfepenie · halfepenny · halfepeny · halfepenye

  1. UK, also, attributive, historical A discontinued English (later British) coin worth half of one penny (old or new). There vvere none principal, they vvere all like one another, as halfe pence are, euerie one fault ſeeming monſtrous, til his fellovv-fault came to match it.

    Similar: ½d, ½p

  2. Ireland, Scotland, also, attributive, broadly, historical A similar coin formerly used in Ireland and Scotland.
  3. UK, also, attributive, historical An amount of money that the English (later British) coin was worth. There ſhall be in England, ſeuen halfe peny Loaues ſold for a peny: the three hoop'd pot, ſhall haue ten hoopes, and I vvill make it Fellony to drink ſmall Beere.
  4. Ireland, Scotland, also, attributive, broadly, historical An amount of money that the Irish or Scottish coin was worth.
  5. broadly, historical A postage stamp worth half of one penny.
  6. Australia, US, archaic, broadly A usually semicircular earmark made in the ear of a livestock animal.
  7. broadly, figuratively, obsolete A small piece; a fragment. O ſhe tore the letter into a thouſand halfpence, raild at her ſelf, that ſhe ſhould be ſo immodeſt to vvrite, to one that ſhe knevv vvould flout her, […]

Halfpenny²

  • /ˈhɑːfˌpɛni/ UK

Where it comes from

From halfpenny, a nickname for a tenant.

proper noun Halfpennys

  1. A surname transferred from the nickname.

Translations

Every language

noun discontinued English (later British) coin worth half of one penny; similar coin formerly used in Ireland and Scotland

Françaisdemi-penny
Tiếng Việtniễng mũn
العربيةنصف بنس

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MLA

"halfpenny." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/halfpenny. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

halfpenny. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/halfpenny

Chicago

"halfpenny." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/halfpenny.

BibTeX
@misc{halfpenny_2026,
  title = {halfpenny},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/halfpenny},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}