- a former small British coin, equal to one fourth of a penny
- a thing of little value; the least amount
Origin of farthing
Middle English ferthing from Old English feorthing, literally , a fourthling, fourth part, diminutive of feortha, fourthfarthing
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"farthing." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 15 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/farthing>.
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farthing. (n.d.). Retrieved January 15th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/farthing
farthing
noun
- Abbr. f. A coin formerly used in Great Britain worth one fourth of a penny.
- Something of little value.
Origin of farthing
Middle English ferthing from Old English fēorthung ; see kwetwer- in Indo-European roots.THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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Cite this page
MLA Style
"farthing." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 15 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/farthing>.
APA Style
farthing. (n.d.). Retrieved January 15th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/farthing
Noun
(plural farthings)
- Former British unit of currency worth one-quarter of an old penny.
Origin
From Old English feorðing (“a quarter”), from feorða (“fourth”), probably influenced by Old Norse fiórðungr
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"farthing." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 15 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/farthing>.
APA Style
farthing. (n.d.). Retrieved January 15th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/farthing
Sentence Examples
- Over the next century, bicycles went through several stages of development including the metal high wheeled bicycle and tricycle, known as the penny farthing.
- (about a farthing a pound), and on imported tobacco twentyfour marks.
- Place and profit were comparatively indifferent to him; he declares that he never received a farthing for any of his works except Gulliver's Travels, and that only by Pope's management; and he had so little regard for literary fame that he put his name to only one of his writings.
- Between the qualities on a manufacturer's list, the difference in cost may not be more than a farthing; and, again, while the shopkeeper sometimes pays 22d.
- Meantime the uttermost farthing was wrung from the wretched fellahin, while they were forced to the building of magnificent public works by unpaid labor.
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