Silver as weighed out for money

argentum, i, n. [argêeis, argês, Dor. argas, white, like Tarentum, from Taras, Doed. Syn. III. p. 193; prop. white metal; cf. Sanscr. arǵunas = bright; raǵatam = silver; hence], silver, whose mineralogical description is found in Plin. 33, 6, 31, § 95.

A.. Lit.:

argenti metalla,

Plin. 33, 6, 33, § 101:

argenti aerisque metalla,

Vulg. Exod. 35, 24:

argenti vena,

Plin. 33, 6, 31, § 95: argenti fodina, v. argenti-fodina;

argenti scoria,

id. 3, 6, 5, § 105:

spuma argenti,

id. 33, 6, 35, § 106:

argenti duae differentiae (sunt),

id. 33, 10, 44, § 127:

argentum candidum, rufum, nigrum,

id. ib.:

argentum infectum,

unwrought silver, Liv. 26, 47; Dig. 34, 2, 19:

argenti montes,

Plaut. Mil. 4, 2, 73: argentum purum, Foedus ap. Gell. 6, 5:

argento circumcludere cornua,

Caes. B. G. 6, 28:

Concisum argentum in titulos faciesque minutas,

Juv. 14, 291:

quod usquam est Auri atque argenti,

id. 8, 123:

argentum et aurum,

Tac. G. 5; id. A. 2, 60, id. H. 4, 53; Vulg. Gen. 24, 35:

aurum argentumque,

Tac. H. 2. 82:

aurum et argentum,

Vulg. Gen. 13, 2.—

Meton.

Wrought silver, things made of silver; silver-plate, silver-work:

tu argentum eluito,

Plaut. Ps. 1, 2, 29:

nec domus argento fulget auroque renidet,

Lucr. 2, 27; so,

ridet argento domus,

Hor. C. 4, 11, 6:

argenti quod erat solis fulgebat in armis,

Juv. 11, 109:

argentumque expositum in aedibus,

Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 15:

navis plena argenti facti atque signati,

full of wrought and stamped silver, id. ib. 2, 5, 25; so Liv. 34, 25 and 26:

argentum caelatum,

Cic. Verr. 4, 23, 52; id. Tusc. 5, 21, 61:

apponitur cena in argento puro et antiquo,

Plin. Ep. 3, 1, 9:

argentum et marmor vetus aeraque et artīs Suspice,

Hor. Ep. 1, 6, 17; so id. ib. 1, 16, 76; 2, 2, 181; id. S. 1, 4, 28:

argenti vascula puri,

Juv. 9, 141; 10, 19:

vasa omnia ex argento,

Vulg. Num. 7, 85; ib. Act. 17, 29:

leve argentum,

Juv. 14, 62:

argentum paternum,

id. 6, 355:

argentum vetus,

id. 1, 76:

argentum mittere,

id. 12, 43:

Empturus pueros, argentum, murrina, villas,

id. 7, 133 et saep.—

Silver as weighed out for money, or money coined from silver, silver, silver money; and, as the most current coin, for money in gen.:

appendit pecuniam, quadringentos siclos argenti,

Vulg. Gen. 23, 16: Ratio quidem hercle adparet; argentum oichetai, Plaut. Trin. 2, 4, 15 sq. (quoted by Cic., Pis. 25 fin.):

expetere,

id. Cist. 4, 2, 73:

adnumerare,

Ter. Ad. 3, 3, 15; so id. Heaut. 4, 4, 15; id. Ad. 3, 3, 56; 4, 4, 20; 5, 9, 20 al.:

argenti sitis famesque,

Hor. Ep. 1, 18, 23; id. S. 1, 1, 86:

quis audet Argento praeferre caput,

Juv. 12, 49:

tenue argentum venaeque secundae,

id. 9, 31:

hic modium argenti,

id. 3, 220:

venter Argenti gravis capax,

id. 11, 41:

Argentum et aurum non est mihi,

Vulg. Act. 3, 6; 20, 35 et saep.—

Argentum vivum, quicksilver, Plin. 33, 6, 32, § 100; Vitr. 7, 8, 1 sqq.; so,

argentum liquidum,

Isid. Orig. 16, 19, 2.

(gen. -is, pl. aurar), m.

1) ounce of silver, the eighth part of a mark (átta aurar í mörk); hringr, er stendr sex aura, a ring weighing or worth six aurar; verðr þá at hálfri mörk vaðmála e., then the eyrir is equal to half a mark in wadmal; e. brendr = e. brends silfrs, an ounce of pure silver;

2) ounce (svá var haglit stórt, at hvert haglkornit vá eyri);

3) money in general, property; ljósir aurar verða at löngum trega, bright silver brings long, woe; ilir af aurum, a miser; gefin til aura (= til fjár), wedded for money; hann vissi ekki aura sinna tal, he knew not the tale (extent) of his riches; lausir aurar, opp. to ‘fastr eyrir’, movables, chattels (lönd ok lausir aurar); fríðr eyrir (= frítt fé, kvikfé), cattle;

4) money, currency; Flosi spurði í hverjum aurum hann vildi fyrir hafa, asked in what money he wished to be paid.

* * *

m., gen. eyris, dat. and acc. eyri; pl. aurar, gen. aura, dat. aurum; a word prob. of foreign origin, from Lat. aureus, Fr. or, Engl. ore; (A. S. ora is, however, prob. Danish.) The first coins known in Scandinavia were Roman or Byzantine, then Saxon or English; as the old word baugr (q. v.) denoted unwrought, uncoined gold and silver, so eyrir prob. originally meant a certain coin:

I. an ounce of silver or its amount in money, the eighth part of a mark; an eyrir is = sixty pennies (penningar) = three ertog; tuttugu penningar vegnir í örtug, þrír örtugar í eyri. átta aurar í mörk, 732. 16; silfr svá slegit at sextigir penninga görði eyri veginn, Grág. i. 500; penning, þat skal hinn tíundi (prob. a false reading, x instead of lx) hlutr eyris, 357; hálfs eyris met ek hverjan, I value each at a half eyrir, Glúm, (in a verse); leigja skip þrem aurum, to hire a boat for three aurar, Korm.; einn eyrir þess fjár heitir alaðsfestr, Grág. i. 88: the phrase, goldinn liverr eyrir, every ounce paid; galt Guðmundr hvern eyri þá þegar, Sturl. i. 141; gjalda tvá aura fyrir einn, to pay two for one, Grág. i. 396, ii. 234; verðr þá at hálfri mörk vaðmála eyrir, then the eyrir amounts to half a mark in wadmal, i. 500; brent silfr, ok er eyririnn at mörk lögaura, pure silver, the ounce of which amounts to a mark in lögaurar, 392; hring er stendr sex aura, a ring worth or weighing six aurar, Fms. ii. 246; hence baugr tví-eyringr, tvítug-eyringr, a ring weighing two or twenty aurar, Eb., Glúm.

β. as a weight of other things beside silver; hagl hvert vá eyri, every hail-stone weighed an ounce, Fms. i. 175; stæltr lé ok vegi áttjan aura, eggelningr, þeir skulu þrír fyrir tvá aura, a scythe of wrought steel and weighing eighteen aurar, an ell-long edge, three such cost two aurar (in silver), the proportion between the weight in wrought iron and the worth in silver being 1:28, Grág. i. 501.

γ. the amount of an ounce, without any notion of the medium of payment, hence such phrases as, tólf aura silfrs, twelve aurar to be paid in silver, Nj. 54; eyrir brendr, burnt eyrir, i. e. an eyrir sterling, pure silver, D. N.

II. money in general; skal þar sinn eyri hverjum dæma, to every one his due, his share, Grág. i. 125; in proverbs, ljósir aurar verða at löngum trega, bright silver brings long woe, Sl. 34; margr verðr af aurum api, Hm. 74; illr af aurum, a miser, Jd. 36; vára aura, our money, Vkv. 13; leggja aura, to lay up money, Eg. (in a verse); gefin til aura (= til fjár), wedded to money, Ísl. ii. 254 (in a verse); telja e-m aura, to tell out money to one, Skv. 3. 37, cp. 39: the phrase, hann veit ekki aura sinna tal, he knows not the tale of his aurar, of boundless wealth. Mar. 88: the allit. phrase, lönd (land, estate) ok lausir aurar (movables, cp. Dan. lösöre, Swed. lösören), Eg. 2; hafa fyrirgört löndum ok lausum eyri, K. Á. 94.

2. money or specie; the allit. phrase, aurar ok óðal, money and estates, N. G. L. i. 48; ef hann vill taka við aurum slíkum ( such payment) sem váttar vitu at hann reiddi honum, 93; þeim aurum öllum ( all valuables) sem til bús þeirra vóru keyptir, Grág. i. 412; Flosi spurði í hverjum aurum hann vildi fyrir hafa, F. asked in what money he wished to he paid, Nj. 259; lögaurar, such money as is legal tender; þú skalt gjalda mér vaðmál, ok skilrað hann frá aðra aura, other kinds of payment, Grág. i. 392; útborinn eyrir, in the phrase, mér er það enginn utborinn (or útburðar-) eyrir, I do not want to part with it, offer it for sale; eyrir vaðmála, payment in wadmal (stuff), 300, Bs. i. 639: for the double standard, the one woollen (ells), the other metal (rings or coin), and the confusion between them, see Dasent’s Burnt Njal, vol. ii. p. 397 sqq.: at different times and places the ell standard varied much, and we hear of three, six, nine, twelve ell standards (vide alin, p. 13): in such phrases as ‘mörk sex álna aura,’ the word ‘mörk’ denotes the amount, ‘sex álna’ the standard, and ‘aura’ the payment = payment of ‘a mark of six ells,’ cp. a pound sterling, K. Þ. K. 172; hundrað (the amount) þriggja álna (the standard) aura, Sturl. i. 141, 163, Boll. 362, Ísl. ii. 28; mörk sex álna eyris, Fsk. 10, N. G. L. i. 65, 101, 389, 390; þrem mörkum níu álna eyris, 387–389; sex merkr tólf álna eyrir, 81.

β. in various compds, etc.; land-aurar, land tax, Jb. ch. i, Ó. H. 54; öfundar-eyrir, money which brings envy, Fs. 12; sak-metinn e., sak-eyrir, sakar-eyrir, money payable in fines, Fms. vii. 300; ómaga-eyrir, the money of an orphan, K. Þ. K. 158, Grág. ii. 288; liksöngs-eyrir, a ‘lyke-fee,’ burial fee (to the clergyman); vísa-eyrir, a tax: góðr e., good payment, D. N.; verð-aurar, articles used for payment, id.; forn-gildr e., standard, sterling payment, id.; færi-eyrir = lausir aurar, Skv. 3. 50; flytjandi e., id., Fr.; kaupmanna e., trade money; búmanna e., D. N.; Norrænn e., Norse money, Lv. 25; Hjaltenzkr e., Shetland money, D. N. (vide Fritzner s. v.); fríðr e., ‘kind,’ i. e. sheep and cattle, Grág.

COMPDS:

I. pl., aura-dagr, m. pay-day, D. N. aura-lag, n. the standard of money, Fms. vii. 300, 304. aura-lán, n. worldly luck, 656 i. 3. aura-lógan, f. the squandering of money, 655 iii. 1. aura-lykt, n. payment, D. N. aura-skortr, m. scarcity of money, D. N. aura-taka, u, f. receipt of money, N. G. L. i. 93, Gþl. 298.

II. sing., eyris-bót, f. fine of an eyrir, Grág. i. 158. eyris-kaup, n. a bargain to the amount of an eyrir, Gþl. 511. eyris-land, n. land giving the rent of an eyrir, Fms. x. 146. eyris-skaði, a, m. loss to the amount of an eyrir, Jb. 166. eyris-tíund, f. tithe of an eyrir, K. Þ. K. 148. eyris-tollr, m. toll of an eyrir, H. E. ii. 95.

aes, aeris (often used in plur. nom. and acc.; abl. aeribus, Cato ap. Paul. ex Fest. p. 27 Müll., and Lucr. 2, 636; gen. AERVM, Inscr. Orell. 3551), n. [cf. Germ. Eisen = iron, Erz = copper; Goth. aiz = copper, gold; Angl.Sax. ar, ær = ore, copper, brass; Eng. iron, ore; Lat. aurum; with the com. notion of brightness; cf. aurora, etc.].

Any crude metal dug out of the earth, except gold and silver; esp.,

Aes Cyprium, whence cuprum, copper: scoria aeris, copper dross or scoria, Plin. 34, 11, 24, § 107:

aeris flos,

flowers of copper, id. 34, 11, 24, § 107:

squama aeris,

scales of copper, Cels. 2, 12 init.:

aes fundere,

Plin. 33, 5, 30, § 94:

conflare et temperare,

id. 7, 56, 57, § 197:

India neque aes neque plumbum habet,

id. 34, 17, 48, § 163:

aurum et argentum et aes,

Vulg. Ex. 25, 3.—

An alloy, for the most part of copper and tin, bronze (brass, an alloy of copper and zinc, was hardly known to the ancients. For their bronze coins the Greeks adhered to copper and tin till B.C. 400, after which they added lead. Silver is rare in Greek bronze coins. The Romans admitted lead into their bronze coins, but gradually reduced the quantity, and, under Calig., Nero, Vesp., and Domit., issued pure copper coins, and then reverted to the mixture of lead. In the bronze mirrors now existing, which are nearly all Etruscan, silver predominated to give a highly reflecting surface. The antique bronze had about 87 parts of copper to 13 of tin. An analysis of several objects has given the following centesimal parts: statua ex aere, Cic. Phil. 9, 6:

simulacrum ex aere factum,

Plin. 34, 4, 9, § 15:

valvas ex aere factitavere,

id. 34, 3, 7, § 13.—Hence:

ducere aliquem ex aere,

to cast one's image in bronze, id. 7, 37, 38, § 125; and in the same sense poet.:

ducere aera,

Hor. Ep. 2, 1, 240:

aes Corinthium,

Plin. 34, 2, 3, §§ 5-8; v. Corinthius.—

Meton.

(Esp. in the poets.) For everything made or prepared from copper, bronze, etc. ( statues, tables of laws, money), and (as the ancients had the art of hardening and tempering copper and bronze) weapons, armor, utensils of husbandry: aes sonit, franguntur hastae, the trumpet sounds, Enn. ap. Non. 504, 32 (Trag. v. 213 Vahl.):

Et prior aeris erat quam ferri cognitus usus: Aere solum terrae tractabant, aereque belli Miscebant fluctus et vulnera vasta serebant, etc.,

Lucr. 5, 1287:

quae ille in aes incidit, in quo populi jussa perpetuasque leges esse voluit,

Cic. Phil. 1, 17; cf. id. Fam. 12, 1; Tac. A. 11, 14; 12, 53; id. H. 4, 40: aere ( with the trumpet, horn) ciere viros, Verg. A. 6, 165:

non tuba directi, non aeris cornua flexi,

Ov. M. 1, 98 (hence also rectum aes, the tuba, in contr. with the crooked buccina, Juv. 2, 118); a brazen prow, Verg. A. 1, 35; the brazen age, Hor. Epod. 16, 64.—In plur.: aera, Cato ap. Paul. ex Fest. p. 27 Müll.; Verg. A. 2, 734; Hor. C. 4, 8, 2 al.—

Money: the first Roman money consisted of small rude masses of copper, called aes rude, Plin. 33, 3, 13, § 43; afterwards as coined:

aes signatum,

Cic. Leg. 3, 3; Plin. 33, 3, 13, § 43;

so aes alone: si aes habent, dant mercem,

Plaut. As. 1, 3, 49:

ancilla aere suo empta,

Ter. Phorm. 3, 2, 26: aes circumforaneum. borrowed from the brokers in the forum, Cic. Att. 2, 1: Hic meret aera liber Sosiis, earns them money, Hor. A. P. [p. 61] 345:

gravis aere dextra,

Verg. E. 1, 36:

effusum est aes tuum,

Vulg. Ez. 16, 36:

neque in zona aes (tollerent),

ib. Maarc. 6, 8:

etiam aureos nummos aes dicimus,

Dig. 50, 16, 159.—Hence,

Aes alienum, lit. the money of another; hence, in reference to him who has it, the sum owed, a debt, Plaut. Curc. 3, 1, 2:

habere aes alienum,

Cic. Fam. 5, 6:

aes alienum amicorum suscipere,

to take upon one's self, id. Off. 2, 16:

contrahere,

to run up, id. Q. Fr. 1, 1, 8:

facere,

id. Att. 13, 46:

conflare,

Sall. C. 14, 2; 24, 3:

in aes alienum incidere,

to fall into debt, Cic. Cat. 2, 9:

in aere alieno esse,

to be in debt, id. Verr. 2, 2, 4, § 6; so,

aere alieno oppressum esse,

id. Font. 1; so Vulg. 1 Reg. 22, 2:

laborare ex aere alieno,

Caes. B. C. 3, 22:

liberare se aere alieno,

to get quit of, Cic. Att. 6, 2; so,

aes alienum dissolvere,

id. Sull. 56:

aere alieno exire,

to get out of, id. Phil. 11, 6.—

In aere meo est, trop., he is, as it were, among my effects, he is my friend (only in the language of common conversation):

in animo habui te in aere meo esse propter Lamiae nostri conjunctionem,

Cic. Fam. 13, 62; 15, 14.—

Alicujus aeris esse, to be of some value, Gell. 18, 5.—

In aere suo censeri, to be esteemed according to its own worth, Sen. Ep. 87.—

Sometimes = as, the unit of the standard of money (cf. as); hence, aes grave, the old heary money (as weighed, not counted out):

denis milibus aeris gravis reos condemnavit,

Liv. 5, 12:

indicibus dena milia aeris gravis, quae tum divitiae habebantur, data,

id. 4, 60; so, aes alone and in the gen. sing., instead of assium:

aeris miliens, triciens,

a hundred millions, three millions, Cic. Rep. 3, 10:

qui milibus aeris quinquaginta census fuisset,

Liv. 24, 11.—Also for coins that are smaller than an as (quadrans, triens, etc.):

nec pueri credunt, nisi qui nondum aere, i. e. quadrante, lavantur (those who bathed paid each a quadrans),

Juv. 2, 152 (cf.:

dum tu quadrante lavatum Rex ibis,

Hor. S. 1, 3, 137).—

Wages, pay.

A soldier's pay = stipendium:

negabant danda esse aera militibus,

Liv. 5, 4. And soon after: annua aera habes: annuam operam ede.— Hence in plur., = stipendia, Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 13, § 33.—

Reward, payment, in gen., Juv. 6, 125: nullum in bonis numero, quod ad aes exit, that has in view or aims at pay, reward, Sen. Ep. 88.—

In plur.: aera, counters; hence also the items of a computed sum (for which, later, a sing. form aera, ae (q. v.), came into use): si aera singula probāsti, summam, quae ex his confecta sit, non probare? Cic. ap. Non. 3, 18.

(-s, -ar), m.

1) a piece of property, article (hann skipar upp gózit, var þar hverr penningr valinn í);

2) coin, money (enskir penningar);

3) penny = 1/10 of an eyrir.

* * *

m., mod. peningr, with a single n; the double n is borne out by rhymes, penningi, kenna, Bragi; a contr. form pengar also occurs, Dipl. i. 8, iii. 4, Bs. i. 699, Mar.: [cp. Engl. penny; Germ. pfennig; Dan. contr. penge; from Lat. pecunia]:—a penny, in sing. a coin, coined piece; in plur. also gener. = money: the word occurs as early as in Bragi, the oldest of Norse poets, who calls the round shield with the painted ring (see baugr) ‘the penny of Walhalla,’ for the halls of the ancients were hung with shields; it also occurs in the Ls. 40. It is probably one of the earliest borrowed Gr.-Lat. words in the Scandin. language; Byzantine and Roman coins up to the end of the 2nd century A. D. have been discovered in Danish cairns and fens (coins of the last decennium of the 2nd century have been discovered in a ‘mose fund’ in Sleswig); see also the remarks s. v. kinga; but money for trade-purposes was little used until after the introduction of Christianity, and the first mint-masters were English; Enskir penningar, English coins, English money, Eg. 767; see the curious records in the Saga, ch. 55, 61, but esp. 88; gull-p., a gold coin; silfr-p., a silver coin: for a coin used as a token see the story in Gísl. 14, 24.

II. a small coin, a penny, a subdivision of an ounce; but the value varies, thus, thirty pence to an ounce, N. G. L. i. 225; sixty to an ounce, Grág. i. 500; tuttugu penningar vegnir í örtog, MS. 732. 16; ten to an ounce, Grág. i. 357; lögsilfr et forna, þat er tíu penningar göra eyri, ii. 188; penning er tíu væri fyrir alin vaðmáls, Hkr. ii. 231; ef pennings er vert eðr meira, 188; hálfum vegnum penningi miðr en hálfan sjótta eyri, 175; þrjá penninga Enska, Fms. ix. 442, v. l.; hann fann grafsilfr ok tók af tuttugu penninga, Landn. 146; þrjá penninga ok tvær örtogar, N. G. L. i. 76; bæta fjórum penningum ok tveim örtogum, id.; þrem penningum minna en eyri = an ounce minus three pennies, 77; þrjá penninga ok fimm ærtogar, … áttján penninga, … tólf penninga, … tvá hluti fimta pennings ok eyri; tvá hluti sétta pennings þat er fimtungi minna en full öln, 78, 79; þrír penningar taldir eru við einn veginn, 732. 16; hálf önnur örtug ok tveir peningar, Dipl. iii. 4; hann görði penning þann er ekki stóð minna en eyri, he made a coin which weighed not less than an ounce, Gísl. 14; gjalda Rúma-skatt einn penning taldan (Peter’s penny), K. Á. 194:—in translations, þrjátigi penninga, 655 vii. 3 ( triginti argenteis of the Vulgate, Gen. xxxvii. 28); tveim hundruðum penninga, 655 xi. 4 (=διακοσίων δηναρίων, John vi. 7); en hver sú kona sem hefir tíu peninga … eg hefi minn pening aptr fundið, Luke xv. 8, 9:—phrases, fyrir-göra hverjum penningi fjár síns, to forfeit every penny, K. Á. 144; hvern penning, every penny, Eg. 72; aldrei fær hann af því er ek á einn penning, MS. 4. 11; vert eins pennings, a penny’s worth, 4. 13; hvárki öln né penning, neither an ell nor a penny, i. e. not a whit, Ls 40.

III. in plur. money; ríkr at penningum, monied, Dropl. 35; penninga upptekt, Fms. v. 162; mildr af penningum, i. 257; fá e-m góða penninga, vii. 319; svá marga penninga sem hér verðr brestr í, Dipl. ii. 10, iv. 3; fríðra penga, i. 8; frami ok fagrligir penningar, Fs. 6; til veraldligra pengi, Mar.; góðs ok penninga, Fms. iii. 91: sing. collect., Al. 4.

COMPDS: penningalauss, penningaleysi, penningaríkr, penningaskortr.

IV. in mod. Icel. usage penningr is used of cattle, live stock; sauð-peningr, sheep; naut-p., neat cattle; mjalta peninginn, to milk the sheep. This curious usage is due to an analogy with the old word fé, q. v.