Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

shilling

/ˈʃɪlɪŋ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.17 in modern English

Syllables: shil-ling
IPA: /ˈʃɪlɪŋ/

12

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A coin formerly used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Malta, Australia, New Zealand and many other Commonwealth countries worth twelve old pence, or one twentieth of a pound sterling.

noun

The currency of Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda.

noun

A currency in the United States, differing in value between states.

American usage

noun

The Spanish real, formerly having the value of one eighth of a dollar.

American usage

noun

Alternative form of schilling, a coin formerly used in Germany and German states, worth twelve pfennig.

noun

Alternative form of skilling, a coin formerly used in Denmark, Norway or Sweden, worth twelve penning.

verb

present participle and gerund of shill

name

Example Sentences

"A great bargain also had been[…]the arm-chair in which Bunting now sat forward, staring into the dull, small fire. In fact, that arm-chair had been an extravagance of Mrs. Bunting. She had wanted her husband to be comfortable after the day's work was done, and she had paid thirty-seven shillings for the chair."
"The smaller silver coins of Europe, such as the solidus or German shilling, the mark, and others never found their way east in any quantity on account of their small size and value."
"And without that profit an employee with my salary can make only a poor living and not be able to save one Danish shilling."

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH-der. Proto-Germanic *skiljaną Proto-Indo-European *-lósder. Proto-Germanic *-ilaz Proto-Indo-European *-n̥kʷo-der.? Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Indo-European *-iHnos Proto-Germanic *-īnaz Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Germanic *-gaz ? Proto-Germanic *-ingaz Proto-Germanic *-ilingaz Proto-Germanic *skillingaz Old English sċilling Middle English schilling English shilling From Middle English schilling, shilling, from Old English sċilling, from Proto-West Germanic *skilling, from Proto-Germanic *skillingaz, equivalent to skill + -ing. Doublet of scalding and schilling. Compare typologically Russian рубль (rublʹ) (akin to руби́ть (rubítʹ)), полти́на (poltína), полти́нник (poltínnik) (akin to Proto-Slavic *tęti).

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: schilling, sċilling, *skilling, *skillingaz

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈʃɪlɪŋ/
British English: /ˈʃɪlɪŋ/

Usage

American usage

Inflected Forms

shillings (plural)

Derived Forms

shillingless shillingsworth shillingworth

Phrases

King's shilling look as if one had lost a shilling and found sixpence poor man's shilling Queen's shilling sea shilling shilling mark shilling shocker shilling sign

Frequently Paired Words

schilling skilding skilling solidus

Synonyms

bob generalise gen hog Abraham's willing deener british shilling kenyan shilling

Homonyms

schilling

Rhymes With

killing willing filling drilling fulfilling unwilling chilling thrilling billing spilling milling grilling

Questions

How do you pronounce shilling?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈʃɪlɪŋ/.
What does shilling mean?: A coin formerly used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Malta, Australia, New Zealand and many other Commonwealth countries worth twelve old pence, or one twentieth of a pound sterling.
Where does shilling come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce shilling

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “shilling”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈʃɪlɪŋ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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