See Also: twopence(medicine)
twopence(dictionary)
twopence(dictionary)

twopence (iou)



twopence noun. Also tuppence. LME.
[from TWO adjective + PENCE.]
1. A British silver coin worth two old pennies; a half-groat (since 1662 coined only as Maundy money) (obsolete exc. Hist.); a copper coin of this value issued in the reign of George III (obsolete exc. Hist.). Also, since 1968, a coin worth two (new) pence. LME.
2. Two pence, esp. of the old British currency before decimalization. L15.
3. A very small amount. Freq. in neg. contexts. L17.
Phrases: for twopence very easily, with the slightest encouragement. herb twopence = CREEPING Jenny. not care twopence not care at all.
Comb.: twopence coloured adjective cheap and gaudy (from the price of coloured prints of characters for toy theatres sold in the early 19th cent., as opp. to black and white ones sold for one penny).
? Post-decimalization sense of the coin usu. two words and pronounced .