penny - O.E. pening, penig "penny," from P.Gmc.
*panninggaz. 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, esp. L. denarius,
whence comes its abbreviation d. As Amer.Eng. colloquial
for cent, it is recorded from 1889. Pennyweight is O.E.
penega gewiht, originally the weight of a silver penny. The
herb pennyroyal (1530) is altered by folk etymology from
Anglo-Fr. puliol real; the first element ultimately from L.
puleglum "thyme." Penny-ante (adj.) "cheap, trivial" is first
attested 1935, from poker. Penny dreadful "cheap and gory
fiction" dates from c.1870.