"Charon's obol" meaning in English

See Charon's obol in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: Charon's obols [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun|+}} Charon's obol (plural Charon's obols)
  1. (Greek mythology, Roman mythology) A coin placed in or on the mouth of a deceased person as a payment or bribe for Charon, the ferryman of Hades. Tags: Greek, Roman Synonyms: death penny Translations (Translations): obol mrtvých [masculine] (Czech), obole de Charon [feminine] (French), Charonspfennig [masculine] (German), obolo di Caronte [masculine] (Italian), obol Charona [masculine] (Polish), obol zmarłych [masculine] (Polish), обо́л Харо́на (oból Xaróna) [masculine] (Russian), óbolo de Caronte [masculine] (Spanish), เหรียญของแครอน (Thai), обо́л Харо́на (oból Xaróna) [masculine] (Ukrainian)

Inflected forms

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  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "Charon's obols",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
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  "senses": [
    {
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        },
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          "parents": [],
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        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
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          "ref": "2018, Rory Naismith, editor, Money and Coinage in the Middle Ages, →ISBN, page 337:",
          "text": "Also, the Charon's obol of classical tradition was a low-value coin, a symbol that death makes rich and poor equal.",
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          "bold_text_offsets": [
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              52,
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          "ref": "2020, Franco De Angelis, editor, A Companion to Greeks Across the Ancient World, →ISBN, page 445:",
          "text": "However, in tombs all over the cemetery the use of \"Charon's obols\" was widely practiced, primarily in the form of the local Kolkhidki minted after the Persian weight standard.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
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          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
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            ]
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          "ref": "2022, Glenn W. Most, editor, Studies on the Derveni Papyrus, Volume II, →ISBN, page 318:",
          "text": "In Pieria, particularly, gold coins or pseudo-coins were employed as lamellae, also being inscribed and on at least two occasions deposited in the burial in the same way as a Charon's obol.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A coin placed in or on the mouth of a deceased person as a payment or bribe for Charon, the ferryman of Hades."
      ],
      "id": "en-Charon's_obol-en-noun-Vw2HUd1G",
      "links": [
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        ],
        [
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        [
          "Roman",
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        ],
        [
          "coin",
          "coin"
        ],
        [
          "mouth",
          "mouth"
        ],
        [
          "payment",
          "payment"
        ],
        [
          "bribe",
          "bribe"
        ],
        [
          "Charon",
          "Charon"
        ],
        [
          "ferryman",
          "ferryman"
        ],
        [
          "Hades",
          "Hades"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Greek mythology, Roman mythology) A coin placed in or on the mouth of a deceased person as a payment or bribe for Charon, the ferryman of Hades."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "death penny"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Greek",
        "Roman"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "human-sciences",
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        "philosophy",
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      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "lang_code": "cs",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "obol mrtvých"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "lang_code": "fr",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "obole de Charon"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Charonspfennig"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "lang_code": "it",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "obolo di Caronte"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "obol Charona"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "obol zmarłych"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "lang_code": "ru",
          "roman": "oból Xaróna",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "обо́л Харо́на"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "lang_code": "es",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "óbolo de Caronte"
        },
        {
          "code": "th",
          "lang": "Thai",
          "lang_code": "th",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "เหรียญของแครอน"
        },
        {
          "code": "uk",
          "lang": "Ukrainian",
          "lang_code": "uk",
          "roman": "oból Xaróna",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "обо́л Харо́на"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "Charon's obol"
}
{
  "forms": [
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      "form": "Charon's obols",
      "tags": [
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      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
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        "Terms with Spanish translations",
        "Terms with Thai translations",
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          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              52,
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          "ref": "2020, Franco De Angelis, editor, A Companion to Greeks Across the Ancient World, →ISBN, page 445:",
          "text": "However, in tombs all over the cemetery the use of \"Charon's obols\" was widely practiced, primarily in the form of the local Kolkhidki minted after the Persian weight standard.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              175,
              188
            ]
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          "ref": "2022, Glenn W. Most, editor, Studies on the Derveni Papyrus, Volume II, →ISBN, page 318:",
          "text": "In Pieria, particularly, gold coins or pseudo-coins were employed as lamellae, also being inscribed and on at least two occasions deposited in the burial in the same way as a Charon's obol.",
          "type": "quote"
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        "A coin placed in or on the mouth of a deceased person as a payment or bribe for Charon, the ferryman of Hades."
      ],
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        [
          "coin",
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        [
          "mouth",
          "mouth"
        ],
        [
          "payment",
          "payment"
        ],
        [
          "bribe",
          "bribe"
        ],
        [
          "Charon",
          "Charon"
        ],
        [
          "ferryman",
          "ferryman"
        ],
        [
          "Hades",
          "Hades"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Greek mythology, Roman mythology) A coin placed in or on the mouth of a deceased person as a payment or bribe for Charon, the ferryman of Hades."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "death penny"
        }
      ],
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  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "lang_code": "cs",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "obol mrtvých"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "lang_code": "fr",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "obole de Charon"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Charonspfennig"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "lang_code": "it",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "obolo di Caronte"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "obol Charona"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "obol zmarłych"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "lang_code": "ru",
      "roman": "oból Xaróna",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "обо́л Харо́на"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "óbolo de Caronte"
    },
    {
      "code": "th",
      "lang": "Thai",
      "lang_code": "th",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "เหรียญของแครอน"
    },
    {
      "code": "uk",
      "lang": "Ukrainian",
      "lang_code": "uk",
      "roman": "oból Xaróna",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "обо́л Харо́на"
    }
  ],
  "word": "Charon's obol"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-09-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-08-23 using wiktextract (20da82b and a97feda). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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