obolus

American  

[ob-uh-luhs] / ˈɒb ə ləs /

noun

plural

oboli

1. a modern Greek unit of weight equal to 0.1 gram.

2. obole.

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obolus British  

/ ˈɒbələs, ˈɒbɒl /

noun

1. a modern Greek unit of weight equal to one tenth of a gram

2. a silver coin of ancient Greece worth one sixth of a drachma

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Etymology

Origin of obolus

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin < Greek obolós small coin, weight

Example Sentences

He sold his manuscripts, and secured to himself, from the sale, a sum of four oboli a day, which was to be his whole income.

From Project Gutenberg

All those who could not produce the required obolus were obliged to wait one hundred years, at the end of which time Charon reluctantly ferried them over free of charge.

From Project Gutenberg

The architects who superintended the building of the temple of Polias, on the other hand, got only 6 oboli per day, and the contractor 5.

From Project Gutenberg

Some time before interment, a piece of money, an obolus, was put in the mouth of the corpse, as Charon’s fee.

From Project Gutenberg

As the friars had been turned out of their comfortable nests, and were poor and disconsolate, I myself would sooner have given them an obolus unjustified by theory than a diatribe justified by logic.

From Project Gutenberg