widow's mite
A very small gift or donation which, however, represents a great sacrifice on the part of the giver.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“She gave her widow's mite to help the local food bank.”
“Although he had very little money himself, he offered his widow's mite to support the family in need.”
“The humble donation was truly a widow's mite, representing a significant personal sacrifice that far outweighed its modest monetary value.”
From the Bible account of a widow who deposited two mites into a temple contribution box. The mite, or lepton, was a coin of exceptionally low value, yet the gesture was recorded in the books of Luke (21:1–4) and Mark (12:38–44) as a significant act of devotion.
The narrative as presented in the New International Version describes Jesus Christ observing wealthy donors and noting that the widow’s two coins constituted a greater gift than their larger offerings. The distinction rested on the proportion of the sacrifice; the wealthy contributed from their surplus, while she, in her poverty, surrendered everything she had to live on.
Last updated August 10, 2026