halfpenny
half·pen·ny/ˈheɪp(ə)ni/noun
halfpenny is spelled H-A-L-F-P-E-N-N-Y: 9 letters and 3 syllables (half·pen·ny). It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,368th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, halfpenny means “A discontinued English (later British) coin worth half of one penny (old or new)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of halfpenny is halfpennies or halfpence.
How many letters and syllables are in halfpenny?
| Letters | 9: H-A-L-F-P-E-N-N-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: half·pen·ny |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 49,368th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is halfpenny?
Halfpenny appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,368th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce halfpenny?
- UK /ˈheɪp(ə)ni/
- UK /ˌhɑːfˈpɛni/
- US /ˈheɪp(ə)ni/
Halfpenny has 3 syllables, split half·pen·ny in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-halfpenny.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-halfpenny.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of halfpenny
- halfpennies plural
- halfpence plural
- halfepenie
- halfepenny
- halfepeny
- halfepenye
- halfpenie
- halfpeny
- halfpenye
- halpeny
- halpenye
- hapeney
- hapenny
- ha'penny
- happenny
- hawpny
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does halfpenny mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
UKA discontinued English (later British) coin worth half of one penny (old or new).
- 2
IrelandScotlandA similar coin formerly used in Ireland and Scotland.
- 3
UKAn amount of money that the English (later British) coin was worth.
- 4
IrelandScotlandAn amount of money that the Irish or Scottish coin was worth.
- 5
A postage stamp worth half of one penny.
- 6
AustraliaUSarchaicA usually semicircular earmark made in the ear of a livestock animal.
- 7
obsoleteA small piece; a fragment.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Halfpenny in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense discontinued English (later British) coin worth half of one penny; similar coin :
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | demi-penny |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.