| 释义 |
three-halfpenny, a. (n.)|-ˈheɪpənɪ|
That is worth, or costs, three-halfpence; often depreciatory epithet of anything held in small esteem: paltry, vile, contemptible. Also n. a three-halfpenny piece: see prec.
1552Gilpin Serm. in Life, etc. (1636) 258 A great number..keep them [the livings] as their owne lands, and give some three halfe-peny Priest a Curates wages. 1587Fleming Contn. Holinshed III. 1287/1 To let it perish in threehalfe⁓penie pamphlets, and so die in obliuion. 1638Sanderson Serm. (1657) 142 We laugh't at the silliness of the poor Indians..for parting with a massie lump of Gold-ore for a three halfpenny knife. 1726–31Tindal Rapin's Hist. Eng. xvii. (1743) II. 157 The Three Half-penny Piece (coined by this queen only). 1898G. B. Rawlings Brit. Coinage 66 The threehalfpennies, pennies and threefarthings have as their obverse legend E D G Rosa sine spina. Ibid. 200 William IV also coined silver three-halfpenny pieces for Ceylon and the West Indies. |