Showing results for pennyweight. Search instead for pennyweights.

pennyweight

American

[pen-ee-wayt] / ˈpɛn iˌweɪt /

noun

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

pennyweight British

/ 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

Etymology

Origin of pennyweight

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

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.

See Examples For:

pennyweight

One pennyweight is equivalent to 1/20 of an ounce.

From Encyclopedia.com ● Apr. 9, 2018

This gives you the current pennyweight value of gold.

From Encyclopedia.com ● Apr. 9, 2018

Two measures are used by jewelers to determine this — karat and pennyweight.

From Encyclopedia.com ● Apr. 9, 2018

For good measure, Britain's hundredweight is 112 Ibs., not 100; the pennyweight has been unrelated to the weight of any penny for a century and a half, but equals one-twentieth of an ounce.

From Time Magazine Archive

Of course I have 'counted the cost,'—I have weighed the question to a pennyweight!

From The Martins Of Cro' Martin, Vol. II (of II) by Charles James Lever

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023