farthing

/ˈfɑː(ɹ).ðɪŋ/

farthing noun: a quarter of any monetary unit or measure.

Noun

farthing (plural farthings)

(archaic, historical) A quarter of any monetary unit or measure.
(historical) Former British unit of currency worth one-quarter of an old penny; or a coin representing this.
- "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...1883, Howard Pyle, chapter V, in The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood […], New York, N.Y.: […] Charles Scribner’s Sons […], →OCLC
- 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.1895, Parliament of Western Australia, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly VIII, page 163
(figuratively) A very small quantity or value; the least possible amount.
- 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...1927-29, M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, translated 1940 by Mahadev Desai, Part I, Chapter xvi
Synonyms:

jot, shred, whit
(obsolete) A division of land.

Proper noun capitalized: Farthing

Farthing (plural Farthings)

A surname.

farthing meaning in Tamil and Malayalam

farthing in Malayalam

കാൽപെനി, വളരെ ചെറിയ വസ്തു, നിസ്സാരവസ്തു, നിസ്സാരം

Examples of farthing in a sentence

I had never defrauded a man of a farthing, nor called him knave behind his back.1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter II, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
I kept account of every farthing I spent, and my expenses were carefully calculated.1927-29, M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, translated 1940 by Mahadev Desai, Part I, Chapter xvi

Synonyms of farthing

Forms of farthing

Noun
plural	farthings
alternative form	fourthing
alternative form (dialectal)	farthen
Proper noun
plural	Farthings

Plural of farthing: farthings

Origin of farthing

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”).

Words formed from farthing

Phrases with farthing

Words that rhyme with farthing

penny farthing

Questions about farthing

What does farthing mean?: Farthing means a quarter of any monetary unit or measure.
What is farthing in Tamil?: Farthing in Tamil is பாதின். See Farthing meaning in Tamil.
How do you use farthing in a sentence?: I had never defrauded a man of a farthing, nor called him knave behind his back.
What part of speech is farthing?: Farthing can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce farthing?: Farthing is pronounced /ˈfɑː(ɹ).ðɪŋ/ (UK).
What is the plural of farthing?: The plural of farthing is farthings.

Words near farthing in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: farthing (page history and authors); Farthing (page history and authors); farthing (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); farthing (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-farthing.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-farthing.wav.

Cite this entry: “farthing.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/farthing. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.