Covent Garden
English
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /kʌvənt ɡɑːdən/, /kɒvənt ɡɑːdn/
Audio (UK) (file)
Proper noun
Covent Garden
- A district in central London.
- The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Derived terms
- Covent Garden abbess
- Covent Garden ague
- Covent Garden nun
Noun
Covent Garden (plural Covent Gardens)
- (Cockney rhyming slang, archaic) A farthing.
Usage notes
The rhyme comes from a contemporary colloquial pronunciation of farthing as "farden" [ˈfɑː(ɹ)dən].
References
- Albert Barrère and Charles G[odfrey] Leland, compilers and editors (1889–1890), “Covent Garden”, in A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant […], volume I (A–K), Edinburgh: […] The Ballantyne Press, OCLC 882571771, pages 275–276.
- Farmer, John Stephen (1891) Slang and Its Analogues, volume 2, page 193