obolus
Americannoun
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a modern Greek unit of weight equal to one tenth of a gram
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a silver coin of ancient Greece worth one sixth of a drachma
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of obolus
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin < Greek obolós small coin, weight
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Belisarius begging an obolus was nothing to this.
From Flowers of Freethought (First Series) by G. W. (George William) Foote
The obolus had been, for centuries, unknown in the coinage of Constantinople; and the word was no longer in use in the public markets of Greece.
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 61, No. 379, May, 1847 by Various
Besides, it is evident that solidarity would not add an obolus to the common wealth, and that, consequently, it does not even touch the problem of division.
From System of Economical Contradictions; or, the Philosophy of Misery by P.-J. (Pierre-Joseph) Proudhon
“Not an obolus, by Jupiter!” he murmured, in a language which was not Tuscan or even Italian.
From Romola by George Eliot
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 Myths of Greece and Rome Narrated with Special Reference to Literature and Art by H. A. (H?l?ne Adeline) Guerber
The pay of the commonest day laborer was from three to four oboli per day.
From Principles Of Political Economy by John J. (John Joseph) Lalor
The cassette of St. Joseph, wherein were deposited the oboli for the poor, had long been emptied.
From The Golden Dog by William Kirby
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
“I’ll accept the office on a salary of two hundred oboli a month, with Saturdays off.”
From A House-Boat on the Styx by John Kendrick Bangs
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
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
