farthing
/ˈfɑːðɪŋ
/noun
1A former monetary unit and coin of the UK, withdrawn in 1961, equal to a quarter of an old penny.During that period, he said, there was a national shortage of small-denomination half penny and farthing coins - so many local towns and even tradesmen took to minting their own tokens....
- There were farthings, pennies, oxfords, crowns, florins, shillings, guineas, and pounds, among other divisions.
- Well what do I get for my six pence and three farthings?
1.1 [usually with negative] The least possible amount: she didn’t care a farthing for the woman...
- Anybody who slogs through the first five pages of it knows perfectly well the book cares not a farthing for ideas; it's entertainment.
- They don't care a farthing about other peoples' feelings.
- But they did not care a farthing about defeat, to which they became accustomed.
Origin
Old English fēorthing, from fēortha 'fourth', perhaps on the pattern of Old Norse fjórthungr 'quarter'.