shillingsworth
(ˈʃɪlɪŋzwəθ)
Formerly shillingworth.
[worth n. The form shillingworth (cf. pennyworth) is now rare. In the current form the s is the sign of the possessive (whether sing. or pl.).]
An amount or quantity which is or may be bought for a shilling; as much as is worth a shilling or a (specified) number of shillings.
| a 1325 MS. Rawl. B. 520 lf. 31 b, Þat non ne sal ben i don..in to ani Iurees þat hath lasse þan a Hundred silling⁓worth of londe. 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 612/37 Solidatus, a shyllyngworth. c 1450 Godstow Reg. 87/26, iiij. shillyng⁓worth of Cakys [quattuor solidatas artocoporum]. Ibid. 158, ij shelynge worthe of rent..yerly to be payde att whyt⁓sontyde. 1473–4 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 2 Item componit..for the resignacione of a hundreth schilling worth of land callit the Stanly. 1675 Traherne Chr. Ethics 528 For a shilling-worth of service a shilling-worth of gratitude is naturally paid. 1857 W. Smith Thorndale iv. ii. 267 My Silver Shilling represents..all possible shillingworths of everything on earth. |
| 1840 P. Hawker Diary (1893) II. 175 A few shillings⁓worth of damage to gear, etc. 1905 Athenæum 8 Apr. 432/3 ‘School-room Humour’..is a capital shillingsworth. |