Meaning & use
Obolus
Last updated
A small coin used in ancient Greece, or more generally, a token payment or trifling sum of money.
See it in a sentence
The ferryman in the myth demanded an obolus to carry souls across the river Styx.
He offered a mere obolus toward the charity, a gesture more symbolic than generous.
A note on using this word
In Greek burial custom, an obolus was placed in or on the mouth of the dead as payment for Charon, the ferryman of the underworld.
Words with a similar meaning
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Words with an opposite meaning
fortune
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