# the widow's mite

idiom · CEFR C1

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/the-widows-mite
Updated: 2026-07-29

## Meaning

A small gift that represents a great sacrifice for the person who gives it.

## Examples

- Her small donation was a true widow's mite.
- The pensioner's ten pounds was a widow's mite that moved the organisers more than any of the large cheques.
- Among the corporate sponsorships listed in the programme was a single line noting an anonymous gift of five pounds — a widow's mite that the director quietly suspected had cost its giver more than all the rest combined.

## Origin

The story is told in Mark 12:41–44 and again in Luke 21:1–4. Jesus watches wealthy people drop large sums into the temple treasury, then sees a poor widow put in two small copper coins — the mite of the King James translation — and says she has given more than all of them, because they gave from their surplus while she gave everything she had. A mite was the smallest coin in circulation, so the whole point turns on how little it was worth in absolute terms and how much it cost her in proportion. In English the widow's mite names a modest gift that means far more than its size suggests, because it is given at real sacrifice by someone with little to spare.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.