Ninepences

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A form of currency that represents the value of nine pennies in British money
2. Denoting a historical coin used in transactions for various goods and services
3. Referring to a sum of money amounting to nine pence, often considered in financial contexts

Etymology: "Ninepences" is the plural of "ninepence", a compound of "nine" and "pence", the plural of "penny". The coin was a British silver piece worth nine old pence, and the word simply adds the two elements together, so the only real history lies in the parts themselves. "Pence" descends from the Old English "penig", the ancestor of "penny", which is how English has long counted small coins. The older units were not decimal in the way modern money is, so a sum such as nine pence was a distinct and recognisable amount, not a rounded-off fraction of something larger.