Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A coin formerly used in the United Kingdom, worth one twentieth of a pound, 5 new pence, or 12 old pence prior to 1971.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A coin or money of account, of varying value, in use among the Anglo-Saxons and other Teutonic peoples.
  • noun An English silver coin, first issued by Henry VII., in whose reign it weighed 144 grains.
  • noun In archery, a measure of weight for arrows, equal to the weight of a new (British) silver shilling: as, a 4s. 6d. arrow.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A silver coin, and money of account, of Great Britain and its dependencies, equal to twelve pence, or the twentieth part of a pound, equivalent to about twenty-four cents of the United States currency.
  • noun In the United States, a denomination of money, differing in value in different States. It is not now legally recognized.
  • noun The Spanish real, of the value of one eight of a dollar, or 12� cets; -- formerly so called in New York and some other States. See Note under 2.
  • noun Same as Shilling, 3.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A coin formerly used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Malta, Australia, New Zealand and many other Commonwealth countries.
  • noun The currency of Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda.
  • noun US, historical A currency in the United States, differing in value between states.
  • noun US, historical The Spanish real, formerly having the value of one eighth of a dollar.
  • verb Present participle of shill.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the basic unit of money in Tanzania; equal to 100 cents
  • noun the basic unit of money in Kenya; equal to 100 cents
  • noun an English coin worth one twentieth of a pound
  • noun the basic unit of money in Somalia; equal to 100 cents
  • noun a former monetary unit in Great Britain
  • noun the basic unit of money in Uganda; equal to 100 cents

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English scilling.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English scilling, Proto-Germanic *skillingaz http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=shilling

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From shill.

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  • July 17, 2008