pennyweight
(ˈpɛnɪweɪt)
[f. penny + weight n.]
A measure of weight, equal to 24 grains, 1/20 of an ounce Troy, or 1/240 of a pound Troy. (Formerly = 1/240 of a Tower pound, i.e. 22½ grains, which was the actual weight of a silver penny.) Abbreviated dwt.
| [c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 248 ᵹenim of þam lichoman þysse ylcan wyrte mandragore, þreora peneᵹa ᵹewihte.] 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. lxxi. (Bodl. MS.) A peny weiȝt of þe rote þerof [sc. of ferula] idronke in twei ciates of wyne. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 62 Make of hem smale ballys þat weyȝen j. penye wyȝt. 1590 Recorde, etc. Gr. Artes (1640) 133 As 24 Barley-corns dry, and taken out of the middest of the Ear, do make a penny weight, 20 of those penny weights make an ounce. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. ii. iv. ii. i. (1651) 377 To give Hellebor in powder to ii{supd} weight. 1789 W. Merrey Coinage Eng. 8 The silver penny was about twenty-two grains and a half of Troy-weight, but called a pennyweight Tower. 1877 Blackmore Erema li, In that letter the Major mingled a pennyweight of condolence with more congratulation than the post could carry for the largest stamp yet invented. |
b. A proportional measure of one-twelfth used in stating the fineness of silver; see quots., and cf. carat 3.
| 1758 Reid tr. Macquer's Chym. I. 74 Silver..is supposed to be divided into twelve parts only, which are called penny⁓weights: so that when absolutely pure it is said to be twelve penny-weights fine; when it contains 1/12 of alloy, it is then called eleven penny-weights fine. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 763 If the mass of silver be pure, it is called silver of 12 penny-weights. |