Word.ws English Dictionary

half-crown

half-crown noun: a pre-decimal coin used in Britain, Ireland and New Zealand, equivalent to 30 pence or two shillings and six pence.

Noun

half-crown (plural half-crowns)

  1. (historical) A pre-decimal coin used in Britain, Ireland and New Zealand, equivalent to 30 pence or two shillings and six pence.
    • […] though we play but half-crowns, you know you may bet half guineas with him.1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter XII, in Mansfield Park: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 249
    • Keeping, therefore, an eye to the main chance, stimulated by the best possible motive, Helen emptied her purse on the bed, in such a manner, as to allow a stray half sovereign to escape, when she added the shillings and half-crowns to the little heap, and said, in a tremulous voice, "Here is my...1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXIV, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 10
    Synonyms:
    half-a-tusheroon, half-a-tosheroon, tosheroon, tusheroon, tossaroon, tosh, tush, half-a-bull, half-a-dollar, hog, alderman, madza caroon

Synonyms of half-crown

Forms of half-crown

pluralhalf-crowns
alternative formhalf crown
alternative formhalf-a-crown

Origin of half-crown

From its value of half of the crown (five-shilling) coin.

Questions about half-crown

What does half-crown mean?
Half-crown means a pre-decimal coin used in Britain, Ireland and New Zealand, equivalent to 30 pence or two shillings and six pence.
What part of speech is half-crown?
Half-crown is a noun.
What is the plural of half-crown?
The plural of half-crown is half-crowns.

Words near half-crown in the dictionary

  1. half-court violation
  2. half-court violations
  3. half-cousin
  4. half-cousins
  5. half-cracked
  6. half-crown
  7. half-crowns
  8. half-cut
  9. half-dead
  10. half-deal
  11. half-deals

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: half-crown (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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