Meanings
alternative penny grass
- obsoleteuncountableyellow rattle (Rhinanthus minor or Rhinanthus major (syn. Rhinanthus crista-galli)).
Nor taint-worm ſhall infect the yeaning herds / Nor penny-graſs, nor ſpearwort's poiſ'nous leaf.
1757, John Dyer, “Book I”, in The Fleece: A Poem […] , London: R. and J. Dodsley, page 402 more examples
Another Graſs is called Penny-Graſs; it groweth low, cloſe to the Earth, in mooriſh Grounds; it hath a Leaf as broad as Twopence , but never beareth a Flower.
1670, J. B., The Epitome of the Art of Husbandry […] , London: Benjamin Billingſley, page 180Plants reported killed by copper sulphate solutions: Wild mustard, wild radish, wild barley, penny grass (if young), shepherds' purse , wild buckwheat[…]
1904, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Division of Zoology, Zoological Bulletin, volume 2, page 45
Origin
- Middle Englishpeny gras
- Englishpenny-grass
From Middle English peny gras; equivalent to penny + grass.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
penny-grass. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/penny-grass
“penny-grass.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/penny-grass. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “penny-grass,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/penny-grass.
Source: penny-grass on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.