What does "coin" mean?
Coin: A piece of metal on which certain characters are stamped by government authority, making it legally current as money; -- much used in a collective sense. It is alleged that it [a subsidy] exceeded all the current coin of the realm. Hallam.
Additional senses
- 2.That which serves for payment or recompense. The loss of present advantage to flesh and blood is repaid in a nobler coin. Hammond. Coin balance. See Illust. of Balance. -- To pay one in his own coin, to return to one the same kind of injury or ill treatment as has been received from him. [Colloq.]
- 3.To make of a definite fineness, and convert into coins, as a mass of metal; to mint; to manufacture; as, to coin silver dollars; to coin a medal.
- 4.To make or fabricate; to invent; to originate; as, to coin a word. Some tale, some new pretense, he daily coined, To soothe his sister and delude her mind. Dryden.
- 5.To acquire rapidly, as money; to make. Tenants cannot coin rent just at quarter day. Locke.
- 6.To manufacture counterfeit money. They cannot touch me for coining. Shak.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00