Emily Dickinson Lexicon

FAR'THING, n. [Sax. feorthung, from feorth, fourth, from feower, four.]

1. The fourth of a penny; a small copper coin of Great Britain, being the fourth of a penny in value. In America we have no coin of this kind. We however use the word to denote the fourth part of a penny in value, but the penny is of different value from the English penny, and different in different states. It is becoming obsolete with the old denominations of money.
2. Farthings, in the plural, copper coin. – Gay.
3. Very small price or value. It is not worth a farthing, that is, it is of very little worth, or worth nothing.
4. A division of land. [Not now used.] Thirty acres make a farthing-land; nine farthings, a Cornish acre; and four Cornish acres a knight's fee. – Carew.