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pfennig

pfennig

1 9.9
A small old German coin worth one hundredth of a mark
  • noun
  • /ˈfɛnɪɡ/
  • Archaic
: pfennig
  • My first German series for the year, showing a bird on the wing, begins with 5 Pfennigs and ends with 200 Marks (a Pfennig is 1/100 of a Mark).
  • 1 pfennig

Examples

  • The old man cherished every pfennig he had saved over the years.

  • Sold to Germany a year later for a pfennig and the promise of a kiss.

  • I assure you, I will earn every pfennig.

  • A handkerchief, a ten-pfennig piece.

  • Not even a pfennig.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • "Pfennig for your thoughts," Simon interrupted, cheerfully bored.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • Every letter had to have a two-pfennig Berlin-rebuilding stamp attached.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • Minutes later, by a row of telephones, I asked another German business type if he'd be so kind as to exchange enough pfennigs for a dollar so I could make a local call.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • During my trip to Germany, I found an old pfennig among my coins from the past.

  • In the market, you could buy a loaf of bread for just a few pfennigs.

Synonyms

penny
vspfennig
407 1.0

A small coin worth one of 100 parts of a pound or dollar

is the old German one hundredth unit of a former national currency

Surface Forms

pfennig singular
pfennigs plural

Etymology

Pfennig comes from an old German word for a 'small coin' and is like the English penny. So a pfennig was a tiny unit of money, equal to one hundredth of a Deutsche Mark.