florin

¹ American  

[flawr-in, flor-] / ˈflɔr ɪn, ˈflɒr- /

noun

1. a cupronickel coin of Great Britain, formerly equal to two shillings or the tenth part of a pound and retained in circulation equal to 10 new pence after decimalization in 1971: first issued in 1849 as a silver coin.

2. the guilder of the Netherlands.

3. a former gold coin of Florence, first issued in 1252 and widely imitated.

4. a former gold coin of England, first issued under Edward III.

5. a former gold coin of Austria, first issued in the middle of the 14th century.

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Florin ² American  

[flawr-in, flor-] / ˈflɔr ɪn, ˈflɒr- /

noun

1. a town in central California, near Sacramento.

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florin British  

/ ˈflɒrɪn /

noun

1. a former British coin, originally silver and later cupronickel, equivalent to ten (new) pence

2. the standard monetary unit of Aruba, divided into 100 cents

3. (formerly) another name for guilder

4. any of various gold coins of Florence, Britain, or Austria

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Etymology

Origin of florin

1275–1325; Middle English < Middle French < Old Italian fiorino Florentine coin stamped with a lily, derivative of fiore flower < Latin flōrem, accusative of flōs flower

Example Sentences

The pure-gold florin, the coin of Renaissance Florentine, performed 300 years of honorable service.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 12, 2025

Getting around Aruba is pretty easy for visitors: Roads are well-signaled and in good condition, and although Aruba’s currency is the Aruban florin, United States dollars are widely accepted.

From New York Times • Mar. 12, 2020

“I couldn’t tell a florin from a half crown. I thought it was all crap, the social order and everything. So as an outsider, I naturally gravitated to the outsider’s literature, which was science fiction.”

From Washington Post • Aug. 23, 2017

At his death he was a florin multimillionaire.

From Economist • Jul. 30, 2015

Matthias was already counting the florin spikes that were driven into the door.

From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques