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, 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

Nicias, we are told, let out one thousand slaves to Sosias the Thracian, at an obolus a day each—the lessee being bound to restore them to him the same in number.

From Rambles and Studies in Greece by Mahaffy, J. P.

The obolus for Charon, the cake of honey for Cerberus, the shadows of these articles would be borne and used by the shadow of the dead man.

From The Destiny of the Soul A Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life by Alger, William Rounseville

Belisarius begging an obolus was nothing to this.

From Flowers of Freethought (First Series) by Foote, G. W. (George William)

And paid his obolus on the Stygian shore.

From The Poems and Prose Poems of Charles Baudelaire with an Introductory Preface by James Huneker by Baudelaire, Charles

He's at this side of the Styx, it is true; but his foot is in the water, and Charon's obolus is always between his finger and thumb.

From Willing to Die by Le Fanu, Joseph Sheridan