# halfpenny

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈheɪp(ə)ni/ · frequency rank #49,376

## Definitions
1. Senses chiefly with the plural form halfpennies.
2. Senses chiefly with the plural form halfpennies.
3. Senses chiefly with the plural form halfpence.
4. Senses chiefly with the plural form halfpence.
5. A postage stamp worth half of one penny.
6. A usually semicircular earmark made in the ear of a livestock animal.
7. A small piece; a fragment.

## Etymology
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.

## Common misspellings (13)
`ahlfpenny`, `haflpenny`, `halfepnny`, `halffpenny`, `halfpennyy`, `halfpeny`, `halfpenyn`, `halfpneny`, `halfppenny`, `hallfpenny`, `halpfenny`, `hhalfpenny`, `hlafpenny`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/halfpenny