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Origin and history of ninepence

ninepence(n.)

"the sum of nine pennies," 1540s, from nine + pence. No coin of this value was ever issued in England, but the silver shilling issued by Queen Elizabeth for Ireland in 1561 were current in England for nine pence, and in New England it was the name of a Spanish silver coin worth about 9 pence of New England currency.

The ninepence was a coin formerly much favoured by faithful lovers in humble life, as a token of their mutual affection. It was for this purpose broken into two pieces, and each party preserved with care one portion, until on their meeting again, they hastened to renew their vows. [John Gough Nichols, "Anecdotes of the English Coinage," in The Numismatic Chronicle, 1839]

also from 1540s

Entries linking to ninepence

nine(num.)

"the cardinal number one more than eight or one less than ten; the number which is one more than eight;" Middle English nīn, from Old English nigen, from Proto-Germanic *newun (source also of Old Saxon nigun, Old Frisian niugun, Old Norse niu, Swedish nio, Middle Dutch neghen, Dutch negen, Old High German niun, German neun, Gothic niun "nine").

This is from PIE root *newn "nine" (source also of Sanskrit nava, Avestan nava, Greek ennea (with unetymological initial e-), Albanian nende, Latin novem (with change of -n- to -m- by analogy of septem, decem), Lithuanian devyni, Old Church Slavonic deveti (the Balto-Slavic forms by dissimilation of -n- to -d-), Old Irish noin, Welsh naw).

As "a symbol representing the number nine," late 14c. The proverbial nine lives of a cat are attested from 17c. Nine-to-five "the average workday" is attested from 1935. Nine days (or nights) has been proverbial since mid-14c. for the time which a wonder or novelty holds attention; the expression nine days' wonder is from 1590s (see wonder (n.)). The Nine "the Muses" is from c. 1600. Also see nines.

pence(n.)

late 14c., a contraction of penies, collective plural of penny. Spelling with -ce reflects the voiceless pronunciation (compare dice (n.), deuce, hence). After the introduction of decimal currency in Britain in 1971, it began to be used in singular (one pence).

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    real
    The Spanish real of one-eighth of a dollar or 12 and a half cents was a ninepence in New England, one shilling in New York...
    icon
    also ikon, 1570s, "image, figure, picture," also "statue," from Late Latin icon, from Greek eikon "likeness, image, portrait; image in a mirror; a semblance, phantom image;" in philosophy, "an image in the mind," related to eikenai "be like, look like," which is of uncertain orig
    coin
    c. 1300, "a wedge, a wedge-shaped piece used for some purpose," from Old French coing (12c.) "a wedge; stamp; piece of money;" usually "corner, angle," from Latin cuneus "a wedge," which is of unknown origin. The die for stamping metal was wedge-shaped, and by late 14c. the Engli
    posthumous
    mid-15c., posthumus, "born after the death of the originator" (author or father), from Late Latin posthumus, from Latin postumus "last," especially "last-born," superlative of posterus "coming after, subsequent" (see posterior). Altered in Late Latin by association with Latin hum
    salary
    late 13c., salarie, "compensation, payment," whether periodical, for regular service or for a specific service; from Anglo-French salarie, Old French salaire "wages, pay, reward," from Latin salarium "an allowance, a stipend, a pension," said to be originally "salt-money, soldier
    hybrid
    c. 1600, "offspring of plants or animals of different variety or species," from Latin hybrida, variant of ibrida "mongrel," specifically "offspring of a tame sow and a wild boar," of unknown origin but probably from Greek and somehow related to hubris. A rare word before the gene
    Nicholas
    masc. proper name, from French Nicolas, from Latin Nicholaus, Nicolaus, from Greek Nikolaos, literally "victory-people," from nikē "victory" (see Nike) + laos "people" (see lay (adj.)). The saint associated with Christmas (died 326 C.E.) was a bishop of Myra in Lycia, patron of s
    manna
    Old English borrowing from Late Latin manna, from Greek manna, from Hebrew mān, probably literally "substance exuded by the tamarisk tree," but used in Greek and Latin specifically with reference to the substance miraculously supplied to the Children of Israel during their wander
    wisdom
    Old English wisdom "knowledge, learning, experience," from wis (see wise (adj.)) + -dom. A common Germanic compound (Old Saxon, Old Frisian wisdom, Old Norse visdomr, Old High German wistuom "wisdom," German Weistum "judicial sentence serving as a precedent"). Wisdom teeth are so
    sad
    Old English sæd "sated, full, having had one's fill (of food, drink, fighting, etc.), weary of," from Proto-Germanic *sathaz (source also of Old Norse saðr, Middle Dutch sat, Dutch zad, Old High German sat, German satt, Gothic saþs "satiated, sated, full"), from PIE *seto-, from

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