widow's mite
/ˈwɪdoʊz ˈmaɪt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.51 in modern English
19
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A very small gift or donation which, however, represents a great sacrifice on the part of the giver.
Example Sentences
- "The matter of this Duty, is ſomething of theſe worldly Goods which God hath given us, are juſtly our own, and which we may ſpare, though never ſo little, if but the poor Widow's mite: for God requires our Charity according to our portion, we must give willingly and plentifully."
- "What are the sinews and souls of Russian serfs and Republican slaves but Fast-Fish, whereof possession is the whole of the law? What to the rapacious landlord is the widow's last mite but a Fast-Fish?"
- "The widow had but only one, / A puny and decrepid son; / But day and night, / Though fretful oft, and weak, and small, / A loving child, he was her all— / The widow's mite."
- "“A mite and the ‘widow’s mite,’ are some way apart, my dear,” said Aunt Dorothy; “your ‘widow’s mite,’ I suppose, might be the parsonage and the glebe, and those cows in your uncle’s park and meadow. Take care what you offer to the Lord. He sometimes takes us at our word. And there are plunderers abroad who take their own estimate of people’s mites, widows’ and others.”"
- "That widow on Monday was it outside Cramer's that looked at me. Buried the poor husband but progressing favorably on the premium. Her widow's mite."
- "After the woman who gave me those ties left me that day, a cloud of guilt hung over me, and I couldn't shake it. It stayed with me through the night. I couldn't sleep. The woman was in her late sixties at the least, and she walked as if she carried the world on her shoulders. But she'd found a way to thank me. And I knew it was the widow's mite."
Etymology
From 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.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈwɪdoʊz ˈmaɪt/
- British English: /ˈwɪdəʊz ˈmaɪt/