penny
pen·ny/ˈpɛni/noun, verb
penny is spelled P-E-N-N-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables (pen·ny). It appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,347th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Penny, the name). As a noun, penny means “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…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of penny is pennies or pence; Wiktionary also lists pens (obsolete).
How many letters and syllables are in penny?
| Letters | 5: P-E-N-N-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: pen·ny |
| In writing | 12 times per million words; the 6,347th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is penny?
Penny appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,347th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Penny, the name.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce penny?
- US /ˈpɛni/
- US /ˈpɪni/
- Australia /ˈpeni/
Penny has 2 syllables, split pen·ny in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-penny.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with penny?
3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as penny from its last stressed vowel (/ɛni/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of penny
- pennies plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- pence plural
- pennying participle, present
- pennied participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does penny mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
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.
- 2
In the United Kingdom, a unit of currency worth ¹⁄₁₀₀ of a pound sterling, or a copper coin worth this amount. Abbreviation: p.
- 3
In Ireland, a coin worth ¹⁄₁₀₀ of an Irish pound before the introduction of the euro. Abbreviation: p.
- 4
In the US and (formerly) Canada, a one-cent coin, worth ¹⁄₁₀₀ of a dollar. Abbreviation: ¢.
- 5
In various countries, a small-denomination copper or brass coin.
- 6
A unit of nail size, said to be either the cost per 100 nails, or the number of nails per penny. Abbreviation: d.
- 7
Money in general.
to turn an honest penny
verb
- 1
slangTo 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.
- 2
To circumvent the tripping of an electrical circuit breaker by the dangerous practice of inserting a coin in place of a fuse in a fuse socket.
- 3
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.
You got pennied! Down it, fresher.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Penny in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
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.
Where does penny come from?
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).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).