penge

Penge is the Danish word for money. It denotes currency, wealth, or funds and is used as a general, mass noun in everyday language. People speak of “mange penge” (a lot of money) or of having “penge til rådighed” (money available). The term covers cash as well as funds held in bank accounts and appears in both casual speech and formal contexts, including finance and economics. Common related terms include pengesedler for banknotes and mønter for coins, as well as kontanter for cash in hand. In legal and policy discussions, forms such as pengepolitik (monetary policy) and the broader sense of money in circulation are used.

Etymology and cognates: Penge belongs to a family of money terms in the North Germanic languages, with Norwegian penger and Swedish pengar as close cognates. The exact origin is not fully settled, but these words reflect a shared historical development of money vocabulary across Scandinavian languages. The Danish form penge is typically used to refer to money in general rather than to a specific quantity, which is normally given in units such as kroner and øre when counting.

Usage notes: In Danish, penge functions as a plural or mass noun and is used to discuss money in abstract or collective terms rather than as a specific amount. Its usage mirrors similar terms in related languages, and it commonly appears in everyday speech, media, and financial writing as the primary word for money. In English translations, penge is most often rendered as money or funds.