pennyweight

[ pen-ee-weyt ]

/ ˈpɛn iˌweɪt /

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noun

(in troy weight) a unit of 24 grains or 1/20 of an ounce (1.56 grams). Abbreviation: dwt, pwt

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Origin of pennyweight

1350–1400; Middle English penyweight,Old English penega gewihte.See penny, weight

Words nearby pennyweight

penny-pinching, penny post, pennyroyal, penny shares, penny stock, pennyweight, penny whistle, penny-wise, penny wise and pound foolish, pennywort, pennyworth

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use pennyweight in a sentence

Forty thousand ounces of gold, mates, not a pennyweight less?'
Grif|B. L. (Benjamin Leopold) Farjeon
A pennyweight, according to the old saying, is enough; for being thus used it bringeth two commodities.
Nooks and Corners of English Life, Past and Present|John Timbs
Their minds, their wills, their efforts, their physical strength to the last ounce and pennyweight belonged indissolubly to him.
A Man's Woman|Frank Norris
Scatter a pennyweight of it upon my tombstone; and so lay my in-fi-ni-te-si-mal ap-pa-ri-ti-on!
Memoirs of a Midget|Walter de la Mare

Equilibrium, however, was restored by the addition of a pennyweight and five grains to the opposite side.
The God of His Fathers|Jack London

British Dictionary definitions for pennyweight

pennyweight

/ (ˈpɛnɪˌweɪt) /

noun

a unit of weight equal to 24 grains or one twentieth of an ounce (Troy)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012