obolus

American  

[ob-uh-luhs] / ˈɒb ə ləs /

noun

• oboli
  plural

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

2. obole.

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obolus British  

/ ˈɒbələs /

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• oboli
  plural

Etymology

Origin of obolus

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

obolus oboli

We have seen that answer with a Belisarius-like air; and more than one hero without an obolus has stumbled upon a fortune merely from his contempt of riches.

From The Young Duke by Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield

Charon will charge my disembodied spirit but a single obolus for crossing his dark ferry.

From Philothea A Grecian Romance by Lydia Maria Francis Child

Hours rolled away, while the beautiful face of Winandermere looked as ugly as Styx, as we writhed along its banks, more miserably moaning than the hopeless beggar who sighed for the propitiatory obolus to Charon.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 370, August 1846 by Various

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

From Dealings with the Dead, Volume I (of 2) by A Sexton of the Old School

The story says he fastened a label to his hat, containing these words, "Give an obolus to poor old Belisarius."

From Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama, Vol. 1 A Revised American Edition of the Reader's Handbook by Ebenezer Cobham Brewer

Uncle Catullus threw oboli among the street-boys, who rolled over one another, fighting.

From The Tour A Story of Ancient Egypt by Louis Couperus

Pericles passed a law in Athens by which each citizen was granted two oboli, one to pay for his seat at the theatre, the other to provide himself with refreshment.

From Germany and the Germans From an American Point of View by Price Collier

The obolus is valued by Mr. Hussey at something more than three half-pence; seven oboli and a half would therefore be about a shilling.

From The First Four Books of Xenophon's Anabasis by John Selby Watson

Citizens were paid for attending popular meetings three oboli per day, while the pay of the soldiers was six, and that of the sailors three.

From Principles Of Political Economy by John J. (John Joseph) Lalor

This ancient word—alms—according to its derivative import, comprehends not only those oboli, which are given to the wandering poor, but all bestowments, great and small, in the blessed cause of charity.

From Dealings with the Dead, Volume I (of 2) by A Sexton of the Old School