Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive c10.451

c10.451

ANNA, s. Properly H. āna, ānah, the 16th part of a rupee. The term belongs to the Mohammedan monetary system (RUPEE). There is no coin of one anna only, so that it is a money of account only. The term anna is used in denoting a corresponding fraction of any kind of property, and especially in regard to coparcenary shares in land, or shares in a speculation. Thus a one-anna share is 1/16 of such right, or a share of 1/4 in the speculation; a four-anna is 1/4, and so on. In some parts of India the term is used as subdivision (1/16) of the current land measure. Thus, in Saugor, the anna = 16 rūsīs, and is itself 1/16 of a kancha (Elliot, Gloss. s.v.). The term is also sometimes applied colloquially to persons of mixt parentage. ‘Such a one has at least 2 annas of dark blood,’ or ‘coffee-colour.’ This may be compared with the Scotch expression that a person of deficient intellect ‘wants twopence in the shilling.’