piaster
Americannoun
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a former coin of Turkey, one 100th of a lira: replaced by the kurus in 1933.
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a monetary unit of Egypt, Lebanon, Sudan, and Syria, one 100th of a pound.
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a former monetary unit of South Vietnam: replaced by the dong in 1976.
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the former peso or dollar of Spain and Spanish America.
Etymology
Origin of piaster
First recorded in 1605–15; from French piastre, from Italian piastra “thin sheet of metal, silver coin” (short for piastra d'argento, literally, “plate of silver”), akin to piastro plaster
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"It is time for the 5 piaster loaf to increase in price," Sisi said at the opening of a food production plant.
From Reuters ● Aug. 3, 2021
The pound gained 1 piaster to 5.96 to the dollar in the same period.
From BusinessWeek ● Jul. 11, 2011
North and South Vietnamese currencies were both in circulation, but the black-market value of Hanoi's dong increased daily against Saigon's piaster.
From Time Magazine Archive
Defeatism is widespread in the middle class, as the black-market rate on the piaster has dropped 30% to more than 100 to the U.S. dollar.
From Time Magazine Archive
Steps are therefore being taken to induce the Sultan to accept a smaller sum, but the chances are that his success in securing Thessaly will make Abdul Hamid refuse to take a piaster less.
From The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 44, September 9, 1897 A Weekly Magazine for Boys and Girls by Bishop, Julia Truitt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
