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Glite Dictionary
tenpence

tenpence

1 7.0
A coin worth ten pennies used in the United Kingdom
  • noun
  • /ˈtɛnˌpɛns/
  • UK
: diez peniques

Examples

  • You are three and tenpence short on yesterday, Bunton.

    The Duke (2021)

  • Well, for one and tenpence ha'penny.

    Scrooge (1970)

  • Comes demanded the tax - an estimated two shillings and tenpence.

    Academic text (1990)

  • - Tenpence ha'penny.

    Scrooge (1970)

  • I found an old coin worth tenpence in my pocket.

  • The bus fare was tenpence, making it easy to travel around the city.

  • He paid the vendor tenpence for a delicious pastry.

Surface Forms

tenpence singular
tenpences plural

Morphology

tenpence = ten + pence (transparent) = ten + pence

The word is a straightforward compound meaning 'ten pence', so learners who know 'ten' and 'pence' can derive the meaning.

Etymology

Tenpence is simply made of ten + pence, with pence the plural of 'penny', so it literally means a coin worth ten pennies.