shroff

[ shrof ]

noun
  1. (in India) a banker or money-changer.

  2. (in East Asia, especially China) a local expert employed to test the purity of a coin’s metal content, especially silver or gold.

verb (used with object)
  1. to test (coins) to ascertain the purity of the metal content, especially silver or gold.

Origin of shroff

1
First recorded in 1610–20; earlier sharoffe from Portuguese xarrafo, probably from Gujarati śaraf, from Arabic ṣayrāfī “moneychanger”

Words Nearby shroff

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How to use shroff in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for shroff

shroff

/ (ʃrɒf) /


noun
  1. (in China, Japan, etc, esp formerly) an expert employed to separate counterfeit money or base coin from the genuine

  2. (in India) a moneychanger or banker

verb
  1. (tr) to test (money) and separate out the counterfeit and base

Origin of shroff

1
C17: from Portuguese xarrafo, from Hindi sarrāf moneychanger, from Arabic

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