farthing
noun
far·thing ˈfär-t͟hiŋ 
1
a
: a former British monetary unit equal to ¹/₄ of a penny
b
: a coin representing this unit
2
: something of small value : mite
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web One woman, dressed like a suffragette, propelled herself on a three-wheeled contraption that resembled a penny-farthing. 
Peter Slevin, The New Yorker, 30 July 2022 My next bike, the red-and-yellow Big Wheel, had a lot in common with a velocipede known as the penny-farthing, which was invented in the eighteen-seventies. The New Yorker, 23 May 2022 Every farthing of the cost, All the dreaded cards foretell, Shall be paid, but from this night Not a whisper, not a thought, Not a kiss nor look be lost. Alan Jacobs, Harper’s Magazine , 27 Apr. 2022 The front wheel of his penny-farthing was 50 inches tall, and Stevens coasted into villages where bicycles had never been seen. Robert Isenberg, Longreads, 26 Apr. 2022 The penny-farthing, with its huge front wheel, seems vaguely ridiculous in retrospect—and also pretty dangerous. Samuel Arbesman, Wired, 26 Jan. 2021 His uncle, James Starley, had developed the penny-farthing in the 1870s. National Geographic, 17 June 2020 Once upon a time a ticket to the cinema cost just five quid, and a hogshead of mead but a farthing. The Economist, 20 June 2019 Once upon a time a ticket to the cinema cost just five quid, and a hogshead of mead but a farthing. The Economist, 20 June 2019 See More
Peter Slevin, The New Yorker, 30 July 2022 My next bike, the red-and-yellow Big Wheel, had a lot in common with a velocipede known as the penny-farthing, which was invented in the eighteen-seventies. The New Yorker, 23 May 2022 Every farthing of the cost, All the dreaded cards foretell, Shall be paid, but from this night Not a whisper, not a thought, Not a kiss nor look be lost. Alan Jacobs, Harper’s Magazine , 27 Apr. 2022 The front wheel of his penny-farthing was 50 inches tall, and Stevens coasted into villages where bicycles had never been seen. Robert Isenberg, Longreads, 26 Apr. 2022 The penny-farthing, with its huge front wheel, seems vaguely ridiculous in retrospect—and also pretty dangerous. Samuel Arbesman, Wired, 26 Jan. 2021 His uncle, James Starley, had developed the penny-farthing in the 1870s. National Geographic, 17 June 2020 Once upon a time a ticket to the cinema cost just five quid, and a hogshead of mead but a farthing. The Economist, 20 June 2019 Once upon a time a ticket to the cinema cost just five quid, and a hogshead of mead but a farthing. The Economist, 20 June 2019 See More Word History
Etymology
Middle English ferthing, from Old English fēorthung (akin to Middle High German vierdunc fourth part), from Old English fēortha fourth
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a