Introduction
The Mystery of the Penny.
I've got three families, each a possible origin for West Germanic *panning: "penny", possible borrowings from either Latin patina: "pan" (via variants *patna, *panna), Latin pannus: "cloth, or—less realistically—Punic 𐤐𐤍 pene: "face".
I prefer the explanation that the first pennies were small and thin enough to be left distinctly concave from the striking process—and were thus called "little pans", *panningaz.
Latin pannus: "cloth" I am willing to grant as plausible, but have no particularly story to tell for it.
A derivation from the Punic 𐤐𐤍 pene: "face" (cf. Hebrew פנים paním) would be a cool story, just barely this side of possible. Carthaginian coins were almost always struck with the face of Tanit, one of whose common epithets is Pene Baʻal: "the Face of Baʻal". So the coins had the face of the face of Baʽal, so it would be unexceptional for "face" to be used metanymically for a coin. Compare crown, escudo, florin, leu, or kopek, all named for an image imprinted on the coin.
While I am not persuaded by Venneman's larger Phoenician superstratum theory, the indirect transmission of a Punic word for "coin" to Western Germanic around the time of the indirect transmission of Punic coins like the Saltford Carthaginian Coin (struck 300 BC - 264 BC) seems just barely plausible.
I do not think the evidence supports *pandingaz (e.g. Old High German phant) being an early form, so derivation from Germanic *pandanô: "pledge" or Latin pondus: "pound" are unlikely.
Teaser
weathervane,
windowpane,
panel,
patina,
pan,
penny
Full Text
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Proto-Indo-European *peh₂n- fabric, woven
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Germanic *fanô cloth, banner, flag
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East Germanic
- Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌽𐌰 fana piece of cloth
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North Germanic
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Old Norse fáni
- Danish fane banner
- Icelandic fáni flag
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West Germanic
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Old English fana cloth, patch, flag, banner, vane
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Frankish *fano
- Dutch vaan banner, weathervane
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Old French fanon
- French fanon dewlap, feathering, fanon, tabs on a banner
- English fanon
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Old High German fano
- German Fahne flag, banner, vane
- Yiddish פֿאָן fon flag
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Germanic *gunþifanô war banner
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North Germanic
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Old Norse gunnfáni
- Icelandic gunnfáni regimental standard
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West Germanic
- Old English gūþfana war banner
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Frankish
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Old French gonfanon gonfalon, standard
- French gonfanon
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Old French gonfalon variant
- English gonfalon
- Italian gonfalone
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Hellenic
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Classical Greek πήνη pḗnē
- Classical Greek πηνίον bobbin
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Classical Greek πηνος pēnos thread, bobbin
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Latin pānus thread on a bobbin, ear of millet, swelling, tumor from Doric variant pânos
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Central Romance
- Italian pane thread of a screw
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Vulgar Latin *depānāre to unravel, to untangle by winding up
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Central Romance
- Italian dipanare to wind into a ball, to untangle, to unravel
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Eastern Romance
- Romanian a depăna to wind onto a reel or bobbin
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Western Romance
- Spanish devanar to coil, to wind
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Italic
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Latin pannus cloth, rag, garment
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Central Romance
- Italian panno cloth, clothes, laundry
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Western Romance
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Spanish paño cloth, wipe
- Spanish pañal diaper
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French pagne loincloth, grass skirt
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Gallo-Romance *pann-
- Catalan pany piece, lock
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Old French pan bit, piece, part
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French pan piece, part, side, face, flap, patch, area, section
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Middle English
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Gallo-Romance *pannell- diminutive
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Old French
- French panneau
- English panel
- Italian pannello
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West Germanic *panning penny
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Old English penning penny
- English penny
- Spanish penique penny
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Frankish penning
- Dutch penning penny, medal, cash
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Old High German pfenning
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Old Saxon
- Low German Penning
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Old Norse penningr
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Danish penning historical coin
- Danish penge money originally a plural of penning
- Icelandic peningur coin, mdeal, wealth
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Swedish penning coin, penny, money, cash
- Irish pingin penny
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Slavic pěnędzь coin, money
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East Slavic
- Russian пенязь pénjazʹ penny (historical), pfennig (historical), coin (archaic)
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South Slavic
- Serbo-Croatian пенези penezi money (regional)
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West Slavic
- Czech peníz coin
- Polish pieniądz currency, money
- Hungarian pénz money
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Semitic *pan- front, face, before
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East Semitic
- Akkadian 𒉺𒀀𒉡 pānum front, surface, face, prestige, past
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Central Semitic
- Arabic فني faniya to cease, to pass away, to perish
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Northwest Semitic
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Canaanite
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Hebrew פנים paním face, interior
- Hebrew לפני lif'néi before, facing, prior to, ago
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Yiddish פּנים ponem
- Dutch ponem
- English punim
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Phoenician 𐤐𐤍 pani
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Punic 𐤐𐤍 pane
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West Germanic *panning penny
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Old English penning penny
- English penny
- Spanish penique penny
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Frankish penning
- Dutch penning penny, medal, cash
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Old High German pfenning
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Old Saxon
- Low German Penning
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Old Norse penningr
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Danish penning historical coin
- Danish penge money originally a plural of penning
- Icelandic peningur coin, mdeal, wealth
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Swedish penning coin, penny, money, cash
- Irish pingin penny
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Slavic pěnędzь coin, money
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East Slavic
- Russian пенязь pénjazʹ penny (historical), pfennig (historical), coin (archaic)
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South Slavic
- Serbo-Croatian пенези penezi money (regional)
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West Slavic
- Czech peníz coin
- Polish pieniądz currency, money
- Hungarian pénz money
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Classical Greek πατάνη patánē a kind of flat dish
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Latin patina shallow dish, pan, a kind of cake, manger
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Central Romance
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Italian patina patina, glaze, film
- English patina
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French patine
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Medieval Latin patena paten, Eucharist dish
- English patena
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French patène paten
- Italian patena paten
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Latin patella shallow pan or dish, knee cap diminutive of patina, or of patera with similar meaning but distinct etymology
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Central Romance
- Dalmatian padella pan
- Italian padella frying pan, skillet, bedpan
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Western Romance
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Old French paelle
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French poêle pan, frying pan, metal detector
- Dené Dháh libé frying pan from la poêle
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Catalan paella frying pan, paella
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Old English pæġel wine pot, pail
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Old Spanish
- Spanish padilla saucepan
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Spanish paila a shallow tray, pan, or bowl, frying pan, paila
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Brythonic *padell
- English patella
- Koine Greek πάτελλα pátella dish, patella
- Polish patelnia frying pan
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Latin *patna variant
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Latin *panna variant
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Central Romance
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Germanic *pannǭ
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North Germanic
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Old Norse panna
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Old East Norse
- Danish pande pan, forehead
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Swedish panna pan, forehead, boiler
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Old West Norse
- Icelandic panna pan, sump
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West Germanic
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Old English panne pan, frying pan
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English pan
- Irish panna pan
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Frankish *panna
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Dutch pan pan, cooking pot
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Dutch pannetje diminutive
- Malay panci pot, saucepan
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Old High German pfanna
- German Pfane frying pan
- Yiddish פֿאַן fan pan
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West Germanic *panning penny
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Old English penning penny
- English penny
- Spanish penique penny
-
Frankish penning
- Dutch penning penny, medal, cash
-
Old High German pfenning
-
Old Saxon
- Low German Penning
-
Old Norse penningr
-
Danish penning historical coin
- Danish penge money originally a plural of penning
- Icelandic peningur coin, mdeal, wealth
-
Swedish penning coin, penny, money, cash
- Irish pingin penny
-
Slavic pěnędzь coin, money
-
East Slavic
- Russian пенязь pénjazʹ penny (historical), pfennig (historical), coin (archaic)
-
South Slavic
- Serbo-Croatian пенези penezi money (regional)
-
West Slavic
- Czech peníz coin
- Polish pieniądz currency, money
- Hungarian pénz money
Visual
Collected English words
vane,
weathervane,
fanon,
gonfalon,
pagne,
pan,
pane,
windowpane,
panel,
punim,
patina,
patine,
patena,
paten,
paella,
pail,
paila,
patella,
pan,
penny,
pfennig
Footnotes