farthing

See also: Farthing

English

Etymology

From Middle English ferthing, from Old English fēorþing, fēorþung (“a quarter, fourth part, farthing”), from fēorþa (“fourth”), from Proto-Germanic *fedurþungaz (“a quarter”), probably influenced by Old Norse fjórðungr (“a fourth part, quarter”). Equivalent to fourth +‎ -ing; compare English riding (“third part”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈfɑː(ɹ).ðɪŋ/

• Audio (Southern England)

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• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)ðɪŋ

Noun

farthing (plural farthings)

1. (historical) Former British unit of currency worth one-quarter of an old penny; or a coin representing this.
   • 1883, Howard Pyle, chapter V, in The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood […], New York, N.Y.: […] Charles Scribner’s Sons […], →OCLC:

     "Nay, Heaven forbid, indeed," quoth Robin, "that I should take from such as thee, jolly fellow! Not so much as one farthing would I take from thee, for I love a fair Saxon face like thine right well—more especially when it cometh from Locksley Town, and most especially when the man that owneth it is to marry a bonny lass on Thursday next. But come, tell me for what price thou wilt sell me all of thy meat and thy horse and cart."

   • 1895, Parliament of Western Australia, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly VIII, page 163:

     We must keep them to the fact that the duty is one and three quarter farthings, or nearly a half-penny in the pound and no more, and any one who tries to work it out any other way is not acting fairly in the matter.

   • 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter II, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

     I had never defrauded a man of a farthing, nor called him knave behind his back. But now the last rag that covered my nakedness had been torn from me. I was branded a blackleg, card-sharper, and murderer.

2. (figurative) A very small quantity or value; the least possible amount.

   Synonyms: jot, shred, whit

   • 1927-29, M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, translated 1940 by Mahadev Desai, Part I, Chapter xvi:

     That period of infatuation was not unrelieved by a certain amount of self-introspection on my part. I kept account of every farthing I spent, and my expenses were carefully calculated. Every little item such as omnibus fares or postage or a couple of coppers spent on newspapers, would be entered, and the balance struck every evening before going to bed. That habit has stayed with me ever since, and I know that as a result, though I have had to handle public funds amounting to lakhs, I have succeeded in exercising strict economy in their disbursement, and instead of outstanding debts have had invariably a surplus balance in respect of all the movements I have led.

3. (obsolete) A division of land.

Derived terms

• brass farthing
• chuck-farthing
• farthingdale
• farthing dip
• farthingland
• farthingless
• farthing loaf
• Farthing Street
• half farthing
• Harrington farthing
• not worth a brass farthing
• penny farthing
• pitch-farthing
• quarter farthing
• third farthing
• three farthings
• unofficial farthing

Related terms

• riding

Descendants

• → Occitan: hardit
  • → Catalan: ardit

Translations

former British unit of currency worth one-quarter of an old penny

• Bulgarian: фартинг m (farting)
• Czech: čtvrtpenny f
• Esperanto: duonpenco
• French: farthing (fr) m
• Greek: φαρδίνι n (fardíni)
• Maori: pārenga, pātene
• Russian: фа́ртинг (ru) m (fárting)
• Yoruba: ọ̀níní

a very small quantity or value; the least possible amount

• Czech: vindra f, flok m, grešle (cs) f
• German: Groschen (de) m, Heller (de) m, Pfifferling (de) m, Pfennig (de) m
• Hungarian: fillér (hu), fitying (hu), fabatka (hu), lyukas garas

Middle English

Noun

farthing

1. Alternative form of ferthing