franc

[frangk, frahn]

noun

plural

francs 

1. an aluminum or nickel coin and monetary unit of France, Belgium, and Luxembourg until the euro was adopted, equal to 100 centimes. 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.

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

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

franc

/ fræŋk, 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

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

4. 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

5. 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 )

Word History and Origins

Origin of franc¹

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”; Frank ¹ ( def. ); frank ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

Voluntary contributions from the public quickly raised millions of Swiss francs to help those who had lost their homes.

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The euro, Swiss franc and yen have risen more than 8% each against the dollar since Trump’s return to the presidency.

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The dollar also slid in value as investors piled into the euro, yen and Swiss franc.

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Receiving cash ahead of business trips - large-value notes of pounds, francs or dollars depending on his destination - continued over the following six months.

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He said the realisation of where he was being sent came when his sergeant handed him a one franc note.

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