twopencen.
Since the introduction of decimal coinage in Britain in 1971 also pronounced 
/tuː ˈpɛns/ when a sum of money is meant (as in senses 1, 2, Compounds).
/tuː ˈpɛns/ when a sum of money is meant (as in senses 1, 2, Compounds). 1. A sum of money equal to two pennies. †penny of twopence = sense 2: see penny n. 1c.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > sum of money > [noun] > specific sums of money > specific amounts of pence
sixpencec1380
twelvepencec1380
twopence1477
sevenpence1558
ninepence1568
twopence halfpenny16..
fippence1607
threepence1607
sicle1720
fourpence1852
fivepence-
society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > coins collective > English coins > [noun] > coin of 2d
twopencec1450
half-groat1451
penny of twopence1477
twopenny piece1607
deuce1699
twopenny1736
demi-groata1763
1477 Rolls of Parl. VI. 183/1 The Grotes, Pens of two Pens, and Pens, of this Reame.
1514 in J. T. Smith & L. T. Smith Eng. Gilds (1870) 144 To the beddell of the seid Gilde Tuppens.
1641 Sc. Acts Chas. I (1817) V. 510/1 They might sell at tuppens a groatt & Sexpens..They micht sell..the deirest for a tippens.
1773 J. Hawkesworth Acct. Voy. Southern Hemisphere III. iii. xv. 769 One of them undertook to carry them over to the town, at the rate of two pence a head.
1786 R. Burns Holy Fair viii, in Poems 44 A greedy glowr black-bonnet throws, An' we maun draw our tippence.
1812 H. Smith & J. Smith Rejected Addr. 119 Boys who long linger at the gallery door, With pence twice five, they want but twopence more.
1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days i. ii. 35 What can you expect for tuppence?
1872 J. Ruskin Fors Clavigera (1896) I. xix. 376 Work that will pay no dividend on their twopences.
2. (a) An English silver coin of the value of two pennies: = half groat n. (since 1662 coined only as Maundy money). (b) A copper coin of this value issued in the reign of George III.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > coins collective > English coins > [noun] > coin of 2d
twopencec1450
half-groat1451
penny of twopence1477
twopenny piece1607
deuce1699
twopenny1736
demi-groata1763
c1450 Mankind 457 in Macro Plays 17 He louyth no grotis, nor pens or to-pens.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 iv. ii. 49 Like guilt twoo pences . View more context for this quotation
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler xii. 231 A piece of reed..as big about as the compass of a two pence . View more context for this quotation
1667 E. Chamberlayne Angliæ Notitia: 1st Pt. (1684) i. 217 To scatter new-coyned two-pences in the..places where the King passes.
1712 Mus. Thoresby. (1713) 361 A very fair Canterbury Twopence [temp. Hen. VIII].
1819 W. Scott Bride of Lammermoor viii, in Tales of my Landlord 3rd Ser. III. 113 A wheen silver tippences to the poor folk.
1820 W. Scott Let. 28 Mar. (1934) VI. 159 I care not a bent twopence about their quarrell.
3.
a. As type of a very small amount: now esp. in (not) to care twopence. Also for twopence, very easily, with the smallest encouragement.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > a small quantity or amount > a very small amount
shredc1000
farthingsworthc1325
pennyworthc1330
incha1350
sliverc1374
chipa1393
gnastc1440
Jack1530
spoonful1531
crumba1535
spark1548
slight1549
pin's worth1562
scruple1574
thought1581
pinch1583
scrap1583
splinter1609
ticket1634
notchet1637
indivisible1644
tinyc1650
twopence1691
turn of the scale(s)1706
enough to swear by1756
touch1786
scrimptiona1825
infinitesimal1840
smidgen1841
snuff1842
fluxion1846
smitchel1856
eyelash1860
smidge1866
tenpenceworth1896
whisker1913
tidge1986
the mind > emotion > indifference > [verb (intransitive)]
to put in no chaloir1477
not to care1490
to let the world wag (as it will)c1525
not to care a chip1556
to hang loose (to)1591
(to bid, care, give) a fig, or fig's end for1632
not to careor matter a farthing1647
not to care a doit1660
(not) to care twopencea1744
not to give a curse (also damn)1763
not to care a dump1821
not to care beans1833
not to care a darn1840
not to give a darn1840
not to care a straw (two, three straws)1861
not to care (also give) a whoop1867
(to care) not a fouter1871
not to care (or give) a toss1876
not to give (also care) a fuck1879
je m'en fiche1889
not to care a dit(e)1907
je m'en fous1918
not to give a shit1918
to pay no nevermind1946
not to give a sod1949
not to give (also care) a monkey's (fuck)1960
not to give a stuff1974
the mind > will > wish or inclination > willingness > [adverb] > very willingly
with (also mid) all one's heartOE
with a heart and a half1636
for twopence1934
1691 R. Baxter Reply to Mr. Beverley's Answer 2 All our righteousness is not worth two-pence.
a1744 J. Bramston Art Politicks 193 He cares not two-pence for the land-tax bill.
1752 S. Foote Taste i. 18 It does not signify two Pence.
1894 G. W. Appleton Co-respondent I. 65 He asked me if you really cared twopence for Kate.
1934 R. H. Mottram Bumphrey's i. 37 I'm all heavy with that stuff. I could go to sleep for tuppence!
a1960 E. M. Forster Maurice (1973) xxvi. 132 I'd jump out of the window for twopence.
b. figurative. Applied to a person of very little worth.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > one who is unimportant > of little worth
toy1573
puny1579
puisne1592
urchin1593
short-arse1706
rip1781
snip-jack1846
twopence1866
jerk1935
1866 A. Sartoris Week in Fr. Country-house (1902) 213 She was a wretched twopence of a woman.
c. twopence coloured adjectival phr.: originally with reference to prints of characters for toy theatres that were sold in the early nineteenth century at one penny (1d) for black and white ones and two pennies (2d) for coloured ones; hence, excessively theatrical; cheap and gaudy.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > bad taste > flashiness or gaudiness > [adjective] > tawdry
tinsel1595
gingerbread1631
tawdry1676
frippish1787
tinselly1811
specious1816
gingerbready1845
foofaraw1848
twopence coloured1859
tarty1918
tartish1929
tatty1940
society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > other toys > [adjective] > of toy theatres
twopence coloured1859
1859 G. A. Sala Twice round Clock 253 The Scala..with its rabbit-hutch-like private boxes, whose doors are scrawled over with the penny plain and twopence coloured-like coats of arms of the..Lombardian nobility.
1879 R. L. Stevenson Trav. with Donkey 82 If landscapes were sold, like the sheets of characters of my boyhood, one penny plain and twopence coloured, I should go to the length of twopence every day.
1887 Art Jrnl. Apr. 105/1 Picturesque melodrama..has given place to every-day drama..unsusceptible of twopence coloured treatment.
1908 E. Terry Story of my Life x. 243 I never cared much for Henry [Irving]'s Mephistopheles—a two-pence coloured part, any way.
1911 G. K. Chesterton Innocence of Father Brown xi. 304 It was a twopence coloured sort of incident.
1926 W. de la Mare Connoisseur & Other Stories 311 My American adventure..is of the ‘twopence coloured’ variety, rather than the ‘penny plain’.
1932 Notes & Queries 27 Feb. 151/2 I have two very unusual specimens of the twopence coloured. They..have very little brush~work, being decorated in every possible part with foil of different colours.
1948 Eng. Stud. I. 95 The Rape of Heraclide is a magnificent specimen of the ‘twopence coloured’ style.
1966 A. L. Coburn Autobiogr. iv. 48 The toy theatre of Stevenson's childhood and mine. A penny plain and twopence coloured.
1968 Economist 9 Nov. p. v/1 Almost too much painful detail, which is of no intrinsic interest except by double proof of the horror of the whole; and perhaps slightly twopence-coloured; but brilliantly readable.
1978 Guardian Weekly 24 Sept. 20/3 A penny-dreadful dramatisation..that has been bumped up into a tuppence-coloured theatrical event by sheer production values.
4. twopence halfpenny n. a sum of money equal to two pennies and a halfpenny. Also attributive.In attributive use twopenny-halfpenny was more usual (see twopenny-halfpenny adj. at twopenny adj. and n. Derivatives), but in Scottish twopence-halfpenny was regular when the precise sum was intended, as in a twopence-halfpenny stamp.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > sum of money > [noun] > specific sums of money > specific amounts of pence
sixpencec1380
twelvepencec1380
twopence1477
sevenpence1558
ninepence1568
twopence halfpenny16..
fippence1607
threepence1607
sicle1720
fourpence1852
fivepence-
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] > paltry, mean, or contemptible
unworthlyc1230
wretcha1250
seely1297
vilec1320
not worth a cress (kerse)1377
the value of a rushc1380
threadbarec1412
wretched1450
miserable?a1513
rascal1519
prettya1522
not worth a whistlea1529
pegrall1535
plack1539
pelting1540
scald1542
sleeveless1551
baggage1553
paltering1553
piddling1559
twopenny1560
paltry1565
rubbish1565
baggagely1573
pelfish1577
halfpenny1579
palting1579
baubling1581
three-halfpenny1581
pitiful1582
triobolar1585
squirting1589
not worth a lousea1592
hedge1596
cheap1597
peddling1597
dribbling1600
mean1600
rascally1600
three-farthingc1600
draughty1602
dilute1605
copper1609
peltry?a1610
threepenny1613
pelsy1631
pimping1640
triobolary1644
pigwidgeon1647
dustya1649
fiddling1652
puddlinga1653
insignificant1658
piteous1667
snotty1681
scrubbed1688
dishonourable1699
scrub1711
footy1720
fouty1722
rubbishing1731
chuck-farthing1748
rubbishy1753
shabby1753
scrubby1754
poxya1758
rubbishly1777
waff-like1808
trinkety1817
meanish1831
one-eyed1843
twiddling1844
measly1847
poking1850
picayunish1852
vild1853
picayune1856
snide1859
two-cent1859
rummagy1872
faddling1883
finicking1886
slushy1889
twopence halfpenny1890
jerk1893
pissy1922
crappy1928
two-bit1932
piddly1933
chickenshit1934
pissing1937
penny packet1943
farkakte1960
pony1964
gay1978
16.. Black Bk. Admiralty (Rolls) I. 13 Each sea boy shall have twopence halfpenny per diem.
1850 W. M. Thackeray Pendennis II. ii. 13 Twopence-halfpenny for your thoughts.
1890 R. Le Gallienne G. Meredith 155 He does not weave two-pence-halfpenny mysteries.
5. herb twopence: name given by Turner to the plant Lysimachia Nummularia, also called two-penny grass (see twopenny adj. 3) or moneywort n., from its pairs of rounded leaves.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Primulaceae family or plants > [noun]
herb twopence1548
twopenny grass1548
water pimpernel1575
moneywort1578
pimpernel1633
piss-weed1714
samolus1753
bastard pimpernel1762
chaff-weed1796
pimpernel chaffweed1796
primwort1846
brook weed1861
money plant1873
Wandering Jenny1878
creeping Jenny1882
Wandering Sailor(s1882
1548 W. Turner Names of Herbes sig. H.ijv Centimorbia otherwise called Nummularia..may be called in englishe Herbe .ij. pence or two penigrasse because it hath two and two leaues standyng together of ech syde of the stalke lyke pence.
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 505 Nummularia..herbe Two pence, and Two pennie grasse.
1757 W. Watson in Philos. Trans. 1756 (Royal Soc.) 49 815 The Nummularia, Moneywort, or Herb Twopence.
1861 A. Pratt Flowering Plants & Ferns Great Brit. IV. 238 Creeping Loosestrife, Moneywort, or Herb-Twopence.
Compounds
attributive (= twopenny adj. 1, 2) and in combinations. Cf. twopenny adj. 1a.)
ΚΠ
1762 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy V. xxxix. 133 'Tis not two-pence matter.
1827 W. Scott Two Drovers in Chron. Canongate 1st Ser. I. xiv. 320 Robin..proceeded to light his pipe, and call for a pint of twopenny. ‘We have no twopence ale,’ answered..the landlord.
1889 R. L. Stevenson Let. to S. Colvin 2 Dec. If we only had twopenceworth of wind.
1972 J. Wilson Hide & Seek ii. 28 Alice found she had a two-pence piece in the pocket of her jeans.
1976 M. Deakin & J. Willis Johnny go Home ii. 50 Annie called him from a coin box..using a two-pence piece that had been given her.
1979 M. Page Pilate Plot vi. 94 Dick Goddard pushed a two-pence coin into the slot.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1916; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
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n.c1450