pfennig

[ fen-ig; German pfen-ikh ]

/ ˈfɛn ɪg; German ˈpfɛn ɪx /

noun, plural pfen·nigs, pfen·ni·ge [German pfen-i-guh] /German ˈpfɛn ɪ gə/.

a copper-coated iron coin and monetary unit of Germany until the euro was adopted, the 100th part of a Deutsche mark.

(formerly) a minor coin and monetary unit of East Germany, the 100th part of an ostmark.

Nearby words

Origin of pfennig

1540–50; < German: penny

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for pfennig

You just say such things because I owe you seventeen pfennig.
Fifty Contemporary One-Act Plays|Various
Briquettes are largely used in cities, small slabs of condensed coal that cost one pfennig each.
Home Life in Germany|Mrs. Alfred Sidgwick
The army, he said, was a "waste of money," and he grudged every pfennig it cost the annual budget.
The Magnificent Montez|Horace Wyndham
One pfennig is one-hundredth of a mark, and the mark once was equal to 23.8 cents.
All About Coffee|William H. Ukers

A mark is 23.82 of our cents; and a pfennig is one-hundredth of a mark.
Principles of Political Economy|Arthur Latham Perry

British Dictionary definitions for pfennig

pfennig

/ (ˈfɛnɪɡ, German ˈpfɛnɪç ) /

noun plural -nigs or -nige (German -nɪɡə )

a former German monetary unit worth one hundredth of a Deutschmark

(formerly) a monetary unit worth one hundredth of an East German ostmark

Word Origin for pfennig

German: penny

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