ob·ol

(ŏb′əl) also ob·o·lus (ŏb′ə-ləs)

n. pl. ob·ols also ob·o·li (-ə-lī′)

A silver coin or unit of weight equal to one sixth of a drachma, formerly used in ancient Greece.

[Latin obolus, from Greek obolos, variant of obelos, spit, skewer, obol (since the early Greek obol had the form of a long, slender rod like a spit for roasting).]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

obolus

(ˈɒbələs) or

obol

n, pl -li (-ˌlaɪ) or -ols

1. (Units) a modern Greek unit of weight equal to one tenth of a gram

2. (Currencies) a silver coin of ancient Greece worth one sixth of a drachma

[C16: via Latin from Greek obolos small coin, nail; related to obelos spit, variant of obelus]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

obolus - a Greek unit of weight equal to one tenth of a gram

weight unit, weight - a unit used to measure weight; "he placed two weights in the scale pan"

g, gm, gram, gramme - a metric unit of weight equal to one thousandth of a kilogram

Translations

Obolus

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

We owe nothing to our enemies; and let me give you a piece of advice; take care of yourself, Monsieur d'Artagnan, for from the moment I withdraw my hand from behind you, I would not give an obolus for your life."

View in context

A person who combines the judicial functions of Minos, Rhadamanthus and Aeacus, but is placable with an obolus; a severely virtuous censor, but so charitable withal that he tolerates the virtues of others and the vices of himself; who flings about him the splintering lightning and sturdy thunders of admonition till he resembles a bunch of firecrackers petulantly uttering his mind at the tail of a dog; then straightway murmurs a mild, melodious lay, soft as the cooing of a donkey intoning its prayer to the evening star.

View in context

I suppose We women should remember what we are And not throw back an obolus inscribed With Caesar's image, lightly.

"Half-Poets" and "Whole Democrats": The Politics of Poetic Aggregation in Aurora Leigh

Mineralogy and geochemistry of obolus sandstones and dictyonema shale of North Estonia.

Estonian graptolite argillites revisited: a future resource?

The obolids from the Cambrian-Ordovician Obolus Sandstone of Estonia, described by Mickwitz (1896) as various species and varieties of the genus Obolus Eichwald, 1829, part of which are today assigned to the genera Ungula Pander, 1830, Schmidtites Schuchert & LeVene, 1929 and Oepikites Khazanovitch & Popov, 1984 (in Khazanovitch et al.

Phosphatized organic nanostructures in the Cambrian Linguloid brachiopod Ungula inornata (Mickwitz)/Fosfatiseerunud orgaanilised nanostruktuurid Kambriumi brahhiopoodil Ungula inornata (Mickwitz)

In the klint escarpment radioactive graptolite argillite (Dictyonema shale) and obolus phosphorite crop out.

Radon emissions in Harju County, North Estonia/Radooniemissioonid Harjumaal

Liada is saved from drowning by Obolus, one of the elephants 17-year-old Hannibal is training to prepare for battle in Iberia.

Hannibal's Elephant Girl

when the last obolus had been drawn out of the savings' bank, and there was a dearth of cash, and a plentiful supply of care by way of keeping the balance even, she could no longer keep silence, tightly reined as were Athenian matrons, and proceeded to give Socrates a piece of her mind,--the only gift that, thanks to his shiftlessness, she had it in her power to make to any one.

Discoursing of Xantippe: Amy Levy, classical scholarship, and print culture

"Therein" is a solidus or an obolus - a seven-letter English word that includes 10 other words and requires no rearranging of its letters.

it's a fact

The Latin terms for these are libri, solidi, and denarii, and for halfpenny and farthing (one quarter of a penny) obolus and quarterius.

An analysis of the bursars' accounts at Durham Cathedral Priory, 1278-1398

(5) An obolus is an ancient unit of weight equal to one sixth of a drachma i.e.

Mandrake from antiquity to Harry Potter