"twopenny" meaning in English

See twopenny in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

Etymology: * From two + penny. * (head): George Orwell explains this in Down and Out in Paris and London as rhyming slang: head > loaf of bread > twopenny loaf > twopenny. Etymology templates: {{compound|en|two|penny}} two + penny, {{sense|head}} (head): Head templates: {{en-adj|-}} twopenny (not comparable)
  1. Having a value or cost of twopence. Tags: not-comparable
    Sense id: en-twopenny-en-adj-G75Y21HS
  2. Cheap; worthless; petty. Tags: not-comparable
    Sense id: en-twopenny-en-adj-mr6gCIhw

Noun

Forms: twopennies [plural]
Etymology: * From two + penny. * (head): George Orwell explains this in Down and Out in Paris and London as rhyming slang: head > loaf of bread > twopenny loaf > twopenny. Etymology templates: {{compound|en|two|penny}} two + penny, {{sense|head}} (head): Head templates: {{en-noun|~}} twopenny (countable and uncountable, plural twopennies)
  1. (British, countable, dated) A coin or stamp worth two pence. Tags: British, countable, dated
    Sense id: en-twopenny-en-noun-37UG6lAx Categories (other): British English, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 6 1 33 32 28 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 6 0 26 33 35 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 3 0 30 33 34
  2. (British, uncountable, obsolete) Ale sold for two pence per quart. Tags: British, obsolete, uncountable
    Sense id: en-twopenny-en-noun-wG6G3NTF Categories (other): British English, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 6 1 33 32 28 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 6 0 26 33 35 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 3 0 30 33 34
  3. (British, countable, slang, obsolete) A person's head. Tags: British, countable, obsolete, slang
    Sense id: en-twopenny-en-noun-xTddTDyL Categories (other): British English, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 6 1 33 32 28 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 6 0 26 33 35 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 3 0 30 33 34
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: twopenny-halfpenny, twopenny-ha'penny, twopenny rope, Twopenny Tube Related terms: tuppenny

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "two",
        "3": "penny"
      },
      "expansion": "two + penny",
      "name": "compound"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "head"
      },
      "expansion": "(head):",
      "name": "sense"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "* From two + penny.\n* (head): George Orwell explains this in Down and Out in Paris and London as rhyming slang: head > loaf of bread > twopenny loaf > twopenny.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "twopenny (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Having a value or cost of twopence."
      ],
      "id": "en-twopenny-en-adj-G75Y21HS",
      "links": [
        [
          "twopence",
          "twopence"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1888, James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans (page 145)",
          "text": "A pretty degree of knighthood, sir, is that which can be bought with sugar-hogs-heads! and then your twopenny marquisates"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              78,
              86
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1940, Woman's Home Companion, volume 67, numbers 1-4, page 134:",
          "text": "As the door slammed Pete turned to Hally, fuming. \"Can you tie that? A little twopenny cold frightening him off.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Cheap; worthless; petty."
      ],
      "id": "en-twopenny-en-adj-mr6gCIhw",
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Down and Out in Paris and London"
  ],
  "word": "twopenny"
}

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "twopenny-halfpenny"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "twopenny-ha'penny"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "twopenny rope"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "Twopenny Tube"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "two",
        "3": "penny"
      },
      "expansion": "two + penny",
      "name": "compound"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "head"
      },
      "expansion": "(head):",
      "name": "sense"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "* From two + penny.\n* (head): George Orwell explains this in Down and Out in Paris and London as rhyming slang: head > loaf of bread > twopenny loaf > twopenny.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "twopennies",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "twopenny (countable and uncountable, plural twopennies)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "tuppenny"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "6 1 33 32 28",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "6 0 26 33 35",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "3 0 30 33 34",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              80,
              90
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1852, Edward Litt L. Blanchard, Freaks and follies of fabledom, page 93:",
          "text": "When the Gauls attacked Rome, he hit upon the plan of pelting the soldiers with twopennies to make them believe they had plenty to eat.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A coin or stamp worth two pence."
      ],
      "id": "en-twopenny-en-noun-37UG6lAx",
      "links": [
        [
          "coin",
          "coin"
        ],
        [
          "stamp",
          "stamp"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(British, countable, dated) A coin or stamp worth two pence."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British",
        "countable",
        "dated"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "6 1 33 32 28",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "6 0 26 33 35",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "3 0 30 33 34",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Ale sold for two pence per quart."
      ],
      "id": "en-twopenny-en-noun-wG6G3NTF",
      "links": [
        [
          "Ale",
          "ale"
        ],
        [
          "quart",
          "quart"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(British, uncountable, obsolete) Ale sold for two pence per quart."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British",
        "obsolete",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "6 1 33 32 28",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "6 0 26 33 35",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "3 0 30 33 34",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1880, Our Boys' Paper (page 411)",
          "text": "\"It flew all to pieces; and didn't we get it! But look here, Merry, are you on?\"\n\"Yes; tuck in your twopenny.\"\n\"No springing, mind.\""
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A person's head."
      ],
      "id": "en-twopenny-en-noun-xTddTDyL",
      "links": [
        [
          "head",
          "head"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(British, countable, slang, obsolete) A person's head."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British",
        "countable",
        "obsolete",
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Down and Out in Paris and London"
  ],
  "word": "twopenny"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English adjectives",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English uncomparable adjectives",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "two",
        "3": "penny"
      },
      "expansion": "two + penny",
      "name": "compound"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "head"
      },
      "expansion": "(head):",
      "name": "sense"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "* From two + penny.\n* (head): George Orwell explains this in Down and Out in Paris and London as rhyming slang: head > loaf of bread > twopenny loaf > twopenny.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "twopenny (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Having a value or cost of twopence."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "twopence",
          "twopence"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1888, James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans (page 145)",
          "text": "A pretty degree of knighthood, sir, is that which can be bought with sugar-hogs-heads! and then your twopenny marquisates"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              78,
              86
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1940, Woman's Home Companion, volume 67, numbers 1-4, page 134:",
          "text": "As the door slammed Pete turned to Hally, fuming. \"Can you tie that? A little twopenny cold frightening him off.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Cheap; worthless; petty."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Down and Out in Paris and London"
  ],
  "word": "twopenny"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English adjectives",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English uncomparable adjectives",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "twopenny-halfpenny"
    },
    {
      "word": "twopenny-ha'penny"
    },
    {
      "word": "twopenny rope"
    },
    {
      "word": "Twopenny Tube"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "two",
        "3": "penny"
      },
      "expansion": "two + penny",
      "name": "compound"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "head"
      },
      "expansion": "(head):",
      "name": "sense"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "* From two + penny.\n* (head): George Orwell explains this in Down and Out in Paris and London as rhyming slang: head > loaf of bread > twopenny loaf > twopenny.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "twopennies",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "twopenny (countable and uncountable, plural twopennies)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "tuppenny"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "British English",
        "English countable nouns",
        "English dated terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              80,
              90
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1852, Edward Litt L. Blanchard, Freaks and follies of fabledom, page 93:",
          "text": "When the Gauls attacked Rome, he hit upon the plan of pelting the soldiers with twopennies to make them believe they had plenty to eat.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A coin or stamp worth two pence."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "coin",
          "coin"
        ],
        [
          "stamp",
          "stamp"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(British, countable, dated) A coin or stamp worth two pence."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British",
        "countable",
        "dated"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "British English",
        "English terms with obsolete senses",
        "English uncountable nouns"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Ale sold for two pence per quart."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Ale",
          "ale"
        ],
        [
          "quart",
          "quart"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(British, uncountable, obsolete) Ale sold for two pence per quart."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British",
        "obsolete",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "British English",
        "English countable nouns",
        "English slang",
        "English terms with obsolete senses"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1880, Our Boys' Paper (page 411)",
          "text": "\"It flew all to pieces; and didn't we get it! But look here, Merry, are you on?\"\n\"Yes; tuck in your twopenny.\"\n\"No springing, mind.\""
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A person's head."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "head",
          "head"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(British, countable, slang, obsolete) A person's head."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British",
        "countable",
        "obsolete",
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Down and Out in Paris and London"
  ],
  "word": "twopenny"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-06-13 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-06-01 using wiktextract (9c82c1c and f1c2b61). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.