farthing
pronunciation
How to pronounce farthing in British English:
UK [ˈfɑ:ðɪŋ]
How to pronounce farthing in American English:
US [ˈfɑrðɪŋ]
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- Noun:
- a former British bronze coin worth a quarter of a penny
Word Origin
- farthing
- farthing: [OE] Farthing has a long history as an English coin-name, going back to the 10th century, when it was used in translations of the Bible to render Latin quadrans, a quarter of a denarius. It was introduced into English currency (as a silver coin equal to a quarter of a penny) in the reign of Edward I; in Charles Il’s time copper was used for it, and from 1860 until its abolition in 1971 it was a bronze coin.Appropriately, the term means literally ‘quarter’; it was originally a derivative of Old English fēortha ‘fourth’, formed with the suffix -ing denoting ‘fractional part’ (found also in riding [11], former name of the administrative areas of Yorkshire, which etymologically means ‘third part’).=> four
- farthing (n.)
- Old English feorðing (Old Northumbrian feorðung) "quarter of a penny; a fourth part," a diminutive derivative of feorða "fourth" (from feower "four;" see four) + -ing "fractional part." Cognate with Old Frisian fiardeng, Middle Low German verdink, Old Norse fjorðungr, Old Danish fjerdung "a fourth part of anything." In late Old English also a division of land, probably originally a quarter of a hide. The modern English coin first was minted under Edward I and abolished 1961. The word was used in biblical translations for Latin quadrans "quarter of a denarius." I shall geat a fart of a dead man as soone As a farthyng of him. [Heywood, "Proverbs," 1562]
Example
- 1. Inflation killed the farthing just as it has killed the canadian cent .
- 2. By the time the farthing disappeared , britain was entering its most rapid period of peacetime inflation .
- 3. Verily I say unto thee , thou shalt by no means come out thence , till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing .
- 4. What is not needed is dear at a farthing .
- 5. This old clock is not worth a farthing .