obol
/ˈɑ.bəl/
"obol" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“obol” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 4
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A silver coin of Ancient Greece.
Corpus desk
Index EN-obol · obol · English
obol · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "O" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | obol |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɑ.bəl/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “obol” in English
Rare enough to double-check
obol is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɑ.bəl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for obol, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Ancient Greek ὀβολός (obolós) (literally “spit” or “iron rod”). Doublet of obole and pul. The correct English form is obol, spelled O-B-O-L.
Definition
- 1A silver coin of Ancient Greece.
- 2A weight, equivalent to one sixth of a drachma.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how obol appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
In Classical Athens, there were six obols to one drachma.
Etymology
Borrowed from Ancient Greek ὀβολός (obolós) (literally “spit” or “iron rod”). Doublet of obole and pul.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.