coin
UK[kɔɪn]US[kɔɪn]
n
A flat, typically round piece of metal issued by a government as money.
n
Money in the form of coins.
v
To make coins by stamping metal.
v
To invent or create a new word or phrase.
Etymology
The word 'coin' entered English in the 14th century from the Old French 'coigne', meaning a wedge, stamp, or piece of money. This Old French term derived from the Latin 'cuneus', meaning 'wedge'. The semantic evolution is logical: the original Roman 'cuneus' was a wedge-shaped die used for stamping metal, which then became associated with the stamped product itself—the coin. Thus, the modern English word retains the core idea of a stamped piece of metal used as currency, a meaning that evolved directly from the tool used to create it.
Analysis
The word 'coin' is a simplex loanword from Old French. It does not contain separable morphemes in its modern English spelling.
Examples
I found an old Roman coin in the garden.
He paid for the newspaper with a handful of loose coin.
The term 'blog' was coined in the late 1990s.