subs. (thieves’).—A shilling. [Origin uncertain; possibly related to Latin denarius. In the 16th and 17th centuries, denier = a coin—vide Nashe, Shakespeare, Johnson, etc. Others trace it to (a) the Cornish dinair; (b) Yiddish dinoh, a coin; (c) Gypsy deanee, a pound; (d) Lingua Franca dinarly.] For synonyms, see BLOW.
1857. SNOWDEN, Magistrates Assistant, 3rd ed., p. 444. Shilling, DEANER, also twelver.
1864. Times, 12 Oct., p. 11, col. 6. One woman said where’s the DEANER?
1879. J. W. HORSLEY, ‘Autobiography of a Thief,’ in Macmillan’s Magazine, XL., 501. I had been down three or four days running, and could not buy anything to earn a DEANER (shilling) out of.
