coinage
Americannoun
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the act, process, or right of making coins.
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the categories, types, or quantity of coins issued by a nation.
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coins collectively; currency.
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the act or process of inventing words; neologizing.
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an invented or newly created word or phrase.
“Ecdysiast” is a coinage of H. L. Mencken.
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anything made, invented, or fabricated.
noun
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coins collectively
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the act of striking coins
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the currency of a country
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the act of inventing something, esp a word or phrase
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a newly invented word, phrase, usage, etc
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of coinage
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Middle French word coignaige. See coin, -age
Explanation
Coinage refers to metal money, or coins. A numismatist — that's the technical term for a coin collector — is interested in coinage. Coinage is also the process of coming up with a new word. You probably wouldn't refer to the dimes jingling in your pocket as coinage, since this term tends to be used for coins in a more collective way, as in the coinage of foreign countries. Another way to use coinage is for the process of inventing (or coining) a new word. Shakespeare is famous for a lot of literary achievements, including his coinage of words like "lackluster," "bandit," and "bedazzled."
Vocabulary lists containing coinage
30 GRE Words Beginning with "B" & "C"
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Frindle
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This Week In Culture: August 8–14, 2020
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Earlier this year, he called “all men are created equal,” that famous coinage of the Declaration, the words that “came to define America’s culture.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 8, 2026
Symbols like Lady Liberty, eagles and shields appear in lieu of kings and queens favored on British coinage.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026
She also said the discovery of another had the potential to increase understanding about how the first coinage was produced and how it began to be used in Scotland.
From BBC • Dec. 29, 2025
The Royal Mint has made the circulating coinage of each of Britain's monarchs since Alfred the Great.
From BBC • Aug. 19, 2025
She felt around the bottom of the gunnysack until her fingers found the lump of coinage.
From "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
