noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A silver coin of Ancient Greece. historical

   "In Classical Athens, there were six obols to one drachma."

2. 2
   A weight, equivalent to one sixth of a drachma. historical

Example

More examples

"In Classical Athens, there were six obols to one drachma."

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ὀβολός (obolós) (literally “spit” or “iron rod”). Doublet of obole and pul.

Related phrases

Charon's obolancient greece

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.