Obolos

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A small ancient Greek coin used for transactions and payments; a measure in some contexts referring to a small amount of money; historically utilized in voting systems where individuals contributed coins to support nominees or causes
2. Referring to a diminutive monetary unit from antiquity that played a role in commerce; can signify a minimal financial contribution; also known for its function in democratic practices of ancient Greece regarding election support
3. A coin dating back to ancient Greece, generally small and of low value in commerce; symbolizing a minor donation or investment; often associated with early voting methods where individuals gave coins to endorse candidates

Etymology: The ancient Greek "obolos" literally meant "spit," and it was the name of a small silver coin because of the way early Greek money worked. Before coins were minted, Greek communities traded in metal bars, and a single unit was a "drachma," meaning a handful. The "obolos" was one-sixth of that handful: a short iron or bronze spit, the size of a skewer, from which the smaller unit took its name. When silver coinage came in, the word stuck to the coin, and six obols made one drachma. English borrowed the word directly from Ancient Greek, so it carries the original coin sense without passing through Latin or French. Its use in English is almost entirely historical or scholarly, appearing in writing about classical Athens and in the ferryman's fee of Greek myth, where the dead were supposed to pay an obol to Charon to be carried across the river Styx.

Synonyms: obol, coin, currency, denarius