penny
英 ['pen?]
美['p?ni]
- n. （美）分；便士
CET4TEM4考研CET6中頻詞核心詞匯
詞態變化
復數:?pence;?pennies;
助記提示
復數(pennies或pence)的音譯“便士”。
中文詞源
penny 便士
來自古英語penig,便士，來自Proto-Germanic*panninggaz,便士，可能借自拉丁語panna,小盤子，詞源同pan.即形如小盤子。
英文詞源
- penny
- penny: [OE] Penny comes from a prehistoric Germanic *panninggaz, which also produced German pfennig and Dutch and Swedish penning. It has been speculated that this was derived from *pand- ‘pledge, security’, which also produced English pawn – in which case it would denote etymologically a ‘coin used in transactions involving the pledging of a sum as security’.
=> pawn - penny (n.)
- Old English pening, penig, Northumbrian penning "penny," from Proto-Germanic *panninggaz (cognates: Old Norse penningr, Swedish p?nning, Danish penge, Old Frisian panning, Old Saxon pending, Middle Dutch pennic, Dutch penning, Old High German pfenning, German Pfennig, not recorded in Gothic, where skatts is used instead), of unknown origin.
Offa's reformed coinage on light, broad flans is likely to have begun c.760-5 in London, with an awareness of developments in Francia and East Anglia. ... The broad flan penny established by Offa remained the principal denomination, with only minor changes, until the fourteenth century. [Anna Gannon, "The Iconography of Early Anglo-Saxon Coinage," Oxford, 2003]
The English coin was originally set at one-twelfth of a shilling and was of silver, later copper, then bronze. There are two plural forms: pennies of individual coins, pence collectively. In translations it rendered various foreign coins of small denomination, especially Latin denarius, whence comes its abbreviation d.
As American English colloquial for cent, it is recorded from 1889. Penny-a-liner "writer for a journal or newspaper" is attested from 1834. Penny dreadful "cheap and gory fiction" dates from c. 1870. Phrase penny-wise and pound-foolish is recorded from c. 1600. Penny-pincher "miserly person" is recorded from 1906 (as an adjective penny-pinching is recorded from 1858, American English). Penny loafers attested from 1960.
雙語例句
- 1. The directors of this company feel he's worth every penny.
- 這家公司的主管們覺得他值得栽培。
來自柯林斯例句
- 2. Unleaded gasoline rose more than a penny a gallon.
- 無鉛汽油每加侖漲了1分多。
來自柯林斯例句
- 3. Government penny-pinching is blamed for the decline in food standards.
- 政府吝嗇被指責是食品標準下降的原因。
來自柯林斯例句
- 4. Penny's only son was the apple of her eye.
- 彭妮的獨子是她的心肝寶貝。
來自柯林斯例句
- 5. The operation cost ￡100,000 and it was worth every penny.
- 那次手術花了10萬英鎊，但是花得非常值。
來自柯林斯例句