death penny
/ˈdɛθ ˌpɛni/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.05 in modern English
19
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Synonym of Charon's obol (“a coin placed in or on the mouth of a deceased person as a bribe or payment for Charon, the ferryman of Hades”).
noun
The memorial plaque, a circular bronze plaque presented to the next of kin of British Empire personnel killed in World War I.
British usage; Informal
Example Sentences
- "Afterwards the other seemed to die too, the breath leaving his body, the blood ebbing from his cheek, until his enemy came and stood one day looking down upon him, while he looked back from half-closed eyes, upon which they had already put death pennies, to keep down the lids."
- "He told me how in the oldest graves "death pennies," once used to close the eyes of the corpse, are found."
- "His hands fumbled, and his eyelids suddenly felt as if someone had weighed them down with death pennies."
- "You will not see him now, till a pinch of dust has been sprinkled on your brow, and the death-penny put into your mouth. Then, when you have crossed the dark river, he will be waiting for you on the other side."
- ""They will escape you yet, if you are not careful, and be off to their native woods." The soldier shook his head. "I have tied them fast," he said, "and they have no death-penny in their mouths to pay the ferryman to take them over the dark river.""
- "A short service was hurried over; the small coffin was brought forward; the body was taken off the bier and laid in it. The priest poured some red wine on it, which stained the pure white robe, and placed bread, salt, and some small pieces of copper money beside it. […] [I]t is a strange remnant of pagan customs; and the death penny—that was to pay Charon for the passage over the Styx."
Etymology
From death + penny. Noun sense 3 (“memorial plaque”) refers to its superficial resemblance to the one-penny coin (which was much smaller) in circulation in the United Kingdom at the time.
Word Breakdown
- Root: *dʰew-
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈdɛθ ˌpɛni/
- British English: /ˈdɛθ ˌpɛni/