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Definition of Obolus
1. Noun. A Greek unit of weight equal to one tenth of a gram.
Definition of Obolus
1. n. A small silver coin of Athens, the sixth part of a drachma, about three cents in value.
Definition of Obolus
1. Noun. A silver coin minted in Ancient Greece, valued at a sixth of a drachma. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Obolus
1. an obol [n -LI] - See also: obol
Lexicographical Neighbors of Obolus
Literary usage of Obolus
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. Historical Essays in Connexion with the Land, the Church, &c. by Eben William Robertson (1872)
"This obolus, at its original standard, would have weighed a fourth of the ...
An Attic obolus which, in the time of Aristotle, passed for 8 oz. of copper, ..."
2. The New American Cyclopaedia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge by George Ripley, Charles Anderson Dana (1861)
"obolus, a small Greek coin, ... It was tho price of the passage over the river
Styx, and the Greeks put an obolus into the mouth of the dead, for Charon, ..."
3. The Miscellaneous and Posthumous Works of Henry Thomas Buckle by Henry Thomas Buckle (1872)
"... probably this usage was substituted by the Greeks, for the heathen custom of
putting into the mouth of the deceased a small piece of money called obolus ..."
4. Encyclopædia Americana: A Popular Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature by Thomas Gamaliel Bradford (1838)
"obolus ; a Grecian coin of silver or copper, the sixth part of a drachm, ...
The Greeks placed an obolus in the mouth of the dead, to pay Charon for ..."
5. Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge by Charles Knight (1840)
"Others say that the obolus was originally so •called *rom being stamped with the
figure of a skewer or spit, or other sharp-pointed instrument. ..."
6. Encyclopædia Americana: A Popular Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature by Thomas Gamaliel Bradford (1851)
"The Greeks placed an obolus in the mouth of the dead, to pay Charon for their
passage over ... In weight, the obolus is likewise the sixth part of a drachm ..."
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