sixpence

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word sixpence. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word sixpence, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say sixpence in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word sixpence you have here. The definition of the word sixpence will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofsixpence, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

British sixpence coins struck in 1787.

Etymology

From six +‎ pence.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈsɪks.pəns/
  • (file)

Noun

sixpence (countable and uncountable, plural sixpences)

  1. (obsolete, British, uncountable) The value of six old pence; half of a shilling; or one-fortieth of a pound sterling.
    Finest apples, sixpence each.
    • 1876, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XXIX, in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Hartford, Conn.: The American Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 221:
      When the ferry-boat with her wild freight pushed into the stream, nobody cared sixpence for the wasted time but the captain of the craft.
  2. (historical) A former British coin worth sixpence, first minted in 1551.
    Have you got two sixpences for a shilling?
    • 1832, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Heath's Book of Beauty, 1833, The Talisman, page 55:
      "One penny, sir!" He was roused at once from his abstraction; for it was a question to himself whether he had even that in his pocket. Sixpence was, however, discovered; he paid the toll, and passed on.
    • 1994, Neil Gaiman, Mr. Punch:
      I remember playing card games with my grandfather. Games of memory, not of skill. If I won, he gave me sixpence; if he won, he didn't. We would play until I was bored, or until he ran out of sixpences.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Related terms