What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Farthing vs Penny - What's the difference?

farthing | penny |

In historical terms the difference between farthing and penny

is that farthing is former British unit of currency worth one-quarter of an old penny while penny is in Ireland, a coin worth 1/100 of an Irish pound before the introduction of the euro. Abbreviation: p.

As a verb penny is

to jam a door shut by inserting pennies between the doorframe and the door.

As a proper noun Penny is

a diminutive of the female given name Penelope.

farthing

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • (historical) Former British unit of currency worth one-quarter of an old penny.
  • *1883 , (Howard Pyle), (The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood)
  • *:"Nay, Heaven forbid, indeed," quoth Robin, "that I should take from such as thee, jolly fellow! Not so much as one farthing would I take from thee, for I love a fair Saxon face like thine right well—more especially when it cometh from Locksley Town, and most especially when the man that owneth it is to marry a bonny lass on Thursday next. But come, tell me for what price thou wilt sell me all of thy meat and thy horse and cart."
  • *1895 , Parliament of Western Australia, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly VIII, page 163:
  • *:We must keep them to the fact that the duty is one and three quarter farthings , or nearly a half-penny in the pound and no more, and any one who tries to work it out any other way is not acting fairly in the matter.
  • *
  • *:I had never defrauded a man of a farthing , nor called him knave behind his back. But now the last rag that covered my nakedness had been torn from me. I was branded a blackleg, card-sharper, and murderer.
  • Derived terms

    * * * * * *

    penny

    English

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • (lb) In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a copper coin worth 1/240 of a pound sterling or Irish pound before decimalisation. Abbreviation: d.
  • *
  • *: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.
  • In the United Kingdom, a copper coin worth 1/100 of a pound sterling.
  • (lb) In Ireland, a coin worth 1/100 of an Irish pound before the introduction of the euro. Abbreviation: p.
  • In the US and Canada, a one-cent coin, worth 1/100 of a dollar. Abbreviation: .
  • In various countries, a small-denomination copper or brass coin.
  • A unit of nail size, said to be either the cost per 100 nails, or the number of nails per penny. Abbreviation: d.
  • Money in general.
  • :
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:What penny hath Rome borne, / What men provided, what munition sent?
  • Usage notes

    The plural is used for other cases, in particular when referring to multiple individual coins.

    Synonyms

    * old penny * new penny (old-fashioned ) * (one-cent coin) cent

    Derived terms

    * a bad penny always turns up * bad penny * eightpenny nail * fourpenny nail * * pence * penniless * penny ante * penny arcade * penny dreadful * penny-farthing * penny for one's thoughts * penny pincher * penny wedding * penny whistle * pretty penny * sixpenny nail * tenpenny nail * watch the pennies

    Verb

  • (slang) To 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.
  • (electronics) 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.
  • See also

    * d * the penny drops English nouns with irregular plurals ----