Dictionary

obolus en · NOUN · etymology 1

Etymology

From Latin obolus, from Ancient Greek ὀβολός (obolós), from ὀβελός (obelós). Doublet of obole and pul.

Meanings

1. (qualifier:Ancient Greece) A silver coin minted in Ancient Greece, valued at a sixth of a drachma.
   • I remember one of these who, having received a pretty large sum of money, gave me, when I begged an obolus, a whole talent; on which his friend having reproved him, he answered, with an oath, ‘Why not? Have I not fifty left?’ 1749, Henry Fielding, A Journey from This World to the Next:
   • In like manner, "as the Greeks gave the dead man the obolus for Charon's toll [Charon's obol], and the old Prussians furnished him with spending money, to buy refreshment on his weary journey, so to this day German peasants bury a corpse with money in his mouth or hand," and this is also said to be one of the regular ceremonies of an Irish wake. 1872, John Fiske, “The Primeval Ghost-World”, in Myths and Myth-Makers:
2. (historical) A unit of weight, equal to one-sixth of a drachma.
   • Dav. […] And after that I met the boy of Chremes With fishes, and an obolus of herbs. 1870, John Benson Coles Rose, transl., Andria, translation of original by Publius Terentius Afer, Act II, scene 2, page 21:

Forms

Deriveds

obolary

Relateds

Charon's obol

Synonyms

obol

Translations (16)

es óbolo (silver coin) · it obolo (silver coin) · pl obol (historical unit of weight) · la obolus (silver coin) · pl obol (silver coin) · el οβολός (silver coin) · grc ὀβολός (silver coin) · ca òbol (silver coin) · nl obool (silver coin) · pt óbolo (silver coin) · fi oboli (silver coin) · fr obole (silver coin) · cs obolos (silver coin) · de Obolus (silver coin) · ru обо́л (silver coin) · es obolus (silver coin)

wikidata: Q384102

obolus en · NOUN · etymology 2

Meanings

1. (alt-of, alternative) Alternative form of obelus.
   alt of obelus
   • The Globe editors have marked it with the obolus according to their explanation in the preface: "Whenever a lacuna occurs too great to be filled out with any approach to certainty by conjecture, we have marked the passage with an obolus (†)". 1914, Charles David Stewart, “The Principles of Government”, in Some Textual Difficulties in Shakespeare, page 27:

Forms