luck penny
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English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Noun[edit]
luck penny (plural luck pennies)
- (archaic) A small sum of money given back for luck when paying.
- Synonym: God's penny
- c. 1827, Thomas Carlyle (translator), originally byJean Paul Friedrich Richter, The Campaner thal, and other writings, Life of Quintus Fixlein:
- I mean, had he not luckily exposed his legacy to jeopardy, having offered it as bounty-money and luckpenny to the patron
- A coin carried or given for luck.
- 1812, Maria Edgeworth, The Absentee, Chapter X:
- 'A kind harvest to you, John Dolan,' cried the postillion, 'and success to ye, Winny, with the quality. There's a luck-penny for the child to begin with,' added he, throwing the child a penny.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- “penny”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.