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Tudor & Stuart · word · noun (also adjective)

Lickpenny

LIK-pen-ee /ˈlɪkˌpɛni/pronunciation reconstructed — no period source gives it

First recordedby 1556

Something that 'licks up' your pennies — a thing or place that makes money vanish. The classic use is 'London lickpenny': the city that drains a visitor's purse. Later it could also mean a greedy, grasping person (Century Dictionary); Wiktionary also gives 'a miserly person'.

Where it was first recorded

A translation by John Olde, 1556, per the current OED. The poem 'London Lickpenny' that made the word famous is traditionally dated to the 15th century (the first edition of the OED gave '14..') but survives only in 16th-century copies.

Also spelled: lick-penny, lyckpeny, lykke-peny, lickpeny

In its own time

Well, London lickpenny: I find it true.
Jonathan Swift, Journal to Stella, Letter XIII, entry for 15 January 1710–11, after paying three guineas for a periwig (Works, vol. 14, via Wikisource) · read it

Today

Modern exampleThat theme park is a real lickpenny — even the maps cost money.

Harmless and handy — a witty word for anything that eats your money.

Questions

What does lickpenny mean?

Something that 'licks up' your pennies — a thing or place that makes money vanish. The classic use is 'London lickpenny': the city that drains a visitor's purse. Later it could also mean a greedy, grasping person (Century Dictionary); Wiktionary also gives 'a miserly person'.

When was lickpenny first used?

It is first recorded by 1556 — A translation by John Olde, 1556, per the current OED. The poem 'London Lickpenny' that made the word famous is traditionally dated to the 15th century (the first edition of the OED gave '14..') but survives only in 16th-century copies.

Can you still use lickpenny today?

Harmless and handy — a witty word for anything that eats your money.

Sources

  1. A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles, vol. VI (L), 1908 — 'Lickpenny' — Clarendon Press (via Internet Archive scan)
  2. lickpenny — Merriam-Webster
  3. lickpenny — Wiktionary
  4. Journal to Stella, Letter 13 (Works of Swift, vol. 14) — Wikisource
  5. lickpenny (current OED, earliest evidence) — Oxford English Dictionary

Checked 2026-09-30 · verdict: rare — genuine, but marked rare, obsolete or archaic, or seldom recorded, in the dictionaries listed above

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