franc

[ frangk; French frahn ]

noun,plural francs [frangks; French frahn]. /fræŋks; French frɑ̃/.
  1. an aluminum or nickel coin and monetary unit of France, Belgium, and Luxembourg until the euro was adopted, equal to 100 centimes. Abbreviations: F., f., Fr, fr.

  2. any of the monetary units of various other nations and territories, as Liechtenstein, Martinique, Senegal, Switzerland, and Tahiti, equal to 100 centimes.

  1. a former silver coin of France, first issued under Henry III.

  2. a former monetary unit of Algeria, Guinea, and Morocco.

Origin of franc

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English frank, from Middle French franc, so called because the coin was first inscribed with the name of the king as Medieval Latin Rēx Francōrum “King of the Franks”; see origin at Frank1; see also frank1

Words Nearby franc

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How to use franc in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for franc

franc

/ (fræŋk, French frɑ̃) /


noun
  1. Also called: French franc the former standard monetary unit of France, most French dependencies, Andorra, and Monaco, divided into 100 centimes; replaced by the euro in 2002

  2. the former standard monetary unit of Belgium (Belgian franc) and Luxembourg (Luxembourg franc), divided into 100 centimes; replaced by the euro in 2002

  1. Also called: Swiss franc the standard monetary unit of Switzerland and Liechtenstein, divided into 100 centimes

  2. Also called: franc CFA, CFA franc, franc of the African financial community the standard monetary unit, comprising 100 centimes, of the following countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo

  3. the standard monetary unit of Burundi (Burundi franc), Comoros (Comorian franc), Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaïre; Congolese franc), Djibouti (Djibouti franc), Guinea (Guinea franc), Madagascar (franc malgache), Rwanda (Rwanda franc), and French Polynesia and New Caledonia (French Pacific franc)

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