ninepence

English

Etymology

From nine +‎ pence.

Noun

ninepence (plural ninepences)

1. (obsolete, British) A former British silver coin, worth nine old pennies.
   • 1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]. Canto I.”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678, →OCLC; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC:

     His wits were sent him for a token, \ But in the carriage crack'd and broken. \ Like commendation nine-pence, crookt \ With—to and from my love—it lookt.

     read at Wikisource

2. (obsolete, British) Nine old pennies.
   • 1929, Robert Dean Frisbee, The Book of Puka-Puka, Eland, published 2019, page 137:

     I had sold it to her that morning for ninepence; the real price was a shilling, but it was somewhat shopworn.

3. (obsolete, New England) A Spanish real, valued at twelve and a half cents.

Derived terms

• commendation ninepence
• neat as ninepence
• nice as ninepence
• right as ninepence

 

References

• “ninepence”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.