penny

/ˈpɛni/

//ˈpɛni// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"penny" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“penny” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #6,393. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,393
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - 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...

Corpus desk

Index EN-penny · penny · English

penny · rank #6,393 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,393
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH outlook

Nearest frequency peer: outlook (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “penny”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “penny” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

penny vs pony
60% similar
penny vs pens
60% similar
penny vs puny
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for penny
PropertyValue
Headwordpenny
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈpɛni/
Letters5
Frequency rank#6,393
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “penny”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).pennylands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “outlook” (#6,392), “petty” (#6,394), “optical” (#6,391). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “penny” is #6,393. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around penny (IPA /ˈpɛni/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #6,393 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for penny, with forms such as "epnny", "pennyy", and "peny". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "pony", "pens", "puny", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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). Doublet of pfennig and fening. The correct English form is penny, spelled P-E-N-N-Y.

Definition

  1. 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. 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. 3
    In Ireland, a coin worth ¹⁄₁₀₀ of an Irish pound before the introduction of the euro. Abbreviation: p.
  4. 4
    In the US and (formerly) Canada, a one-cent coin, worth ¹⁄₁₀₀ of a dollar. Abbreviation: ¢.
  5. 5
    In various countries, a small-denomination copper or brass coin.
  6. 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. 7
    Money in general.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how penny appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Thanks to that penny he had just spent so recklessly [on a newspaper] he would pass a happy hour, taken, for once, out of his anxious, despondent, miserable self. It irritated him shrewdly to know that these moments of respite from carking care would not be shared with his poor wife, with careworn, troubled Ellen.
  2. We had not proceeded very far across the south cantilever when we saw a penny lying beside the track, and another a short distance further on. We were to find several more pennies, and some half-pennies, before we reached the north shore. Inspector Bell explained that many passengers try to throw a coin into the Forth, for "good luck," while trains are cr…

Etymology

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). Doublet of pfennig and fening.

Synonyms

old penny1⁄100 of a pound sterlingcent

This word in other languages

penique(Español)penny(Français)Penny(Deutsch)pêni(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • epnny
  • pennyy
  • peny
  • penyn
  • pneny
  • ppenny

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of penny - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

epnny2pennyy1peny1penyn2pneny2ppenny1
Edit distance from "penny"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "penny"?
"penny" is spelled P-E-N-N-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpɛni/.
What does "penny" mean?
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, or a copper coin worth this amount. Abbreviation...
What words are commonly confused with "penny"?
"penny" is commonly confused with "pony", "pens", "puny". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "penny"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "penny" is /ˈpɛni/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "penny"?
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). Doublet of pfennig and fening. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "penny", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

petty#6,394ports#6,396ninth#6,387reign#6,407

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

rises6 variantsscan6 variantsLucy6 variantsspan6 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list