farthing

From Middle English ferthing, from Old English feorðing (“a quarter”), from feorða (“fourth”), probably influenced by Old Norse fiórðungr. Equivalent to fourth + -ing.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈfɑː(ɹ).ðɪŋ/
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)ðɪŋ

farthing (plural farthings)

1. (historical) Former British unit of currency worth one-quarter of an old penny.
   • 1883, Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood Chapter V

     "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 731476803:

     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.

farthing

1. Alternative form of ferthing