English

Alternative forms

• true-penny

Noun

truepenny ‎(plural truepennies)

1. (obsolete, sometimes capitalized) An honest, reliable fellow.
   • 1603, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, act 1, sc. 5:

     Hamlet: . . . Give me one poor request.

     Horatio: What is't, my lord? we will.

     Hamlet: Never make known what you have seen to-night. . . .Indeed, upon my sword, indeed.

     Ghost: [Beneath] Swear.

     Hamlet: Ah, ha, boy! say'st thou so? art thou there, truepenny?

     Come on—you hear this fellow in the cellarage—

     Consent to swear.

   • 1820, Sir Walter Scott, The Monastery, ch. 14:

     "Ha!" said Christie, "art thou there, old Truepenny? here, stable me these steeds, and see them well bedded."

   • 1870, Wilkie Collins, Man and Wife, ch. 25:

     "Duncan! you are, what I call, a clear-minded man. Well worth thinking of, old Truepenny!"

   • 1916, Sherwood Anderson, Windy McPherson's Son, ch. 3:

     "Hear me, Father Almighty. . . . Are you there, old Truepenny?"

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Bacon to this entry?)

Usage notes

• Not uncommonly used by literary authors as an echo of Shakespeare's usage in Hamlet, complete with the phrase Art thou there?.

References

• truepenny at OneLook Dictionary Search