penny

音標(biāo)發(fā)音

penny是英國(guó)的貨幣單位,意爲(wèi)“便士”,在1971年前是1先令的1/12,在1971年後指一英鎊的1/100。penny在美國(guó)和加拿大,還可作“美分”“加拿大分”解,相儅於cent,複數(shù)形式均爲(wèi)pennies。penny引申還可表示“少量的錢(qián)”,一般用於否定句。
penny的複數(shù)有兩種形式：pennies和pence。在指錢(qián)數(shù)多少即“麪值”時(shí)用pence,在指一個(gè)一個(gè)硬幣時(shí)用pennies。
“六便士硬幣”是six pence,“6個(gè)一便士的硬幣”是six pennies,“縂共六便士”是six pence。
在非正式文躰中尤其是口語(yǔ)裡, penny可用縮略式p,且其單複數(shù)同形。

the smallest unit of money in the UK, of which there are 100 in a pound, or a small coin worth this much. You use "pence" or, more informally, "p" when you are talking about the units of money and pennies when you are talking about the coins themselves.

A penny is one cent, or a coin worth one cent.
If you say, for example, that you do not have a penny, or that something does not cost a penny, you are emphasizing that you do not have any money at all, or that something did not cost you any money at all.