widow's mite
A very small gift or donation which, however, represents a great sacrifice on the part…A very small gift or donation which, however, represents a great sacrifice on the part of the giver.
Translations
4 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
Meaning
2 senses(idiomatic)A very small gift or donation which, however, represents a great sacrifice on the part of the giver.
Scherflein
ле́птаlépta
The lepton coin.
Origin
From the Bible account of the poor widow’s donation of two mites (or leptons, small coinsFrom the Bible account of the poor widow’s donation of two mites (or leptons, small coins of low value) to the temple contribution box, which Jesus Christ praised as more than the gifts presented by wealthy people, for “[a]ll these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on”: Luke 21:1–4 (New International Version); see also Mark 12:38–44.
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Forms
plural: widow's mites| Singular | widow's mite |
|---|---|
| Plural | widow's mites |
regular
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.