chervonets

American  

[cher-voh-nits, -nets, chyir-vaw-nyits] / tʃərˈvoʊ nɪts, -nɛts, tʃyɪrˈvɔ nyɪts /

Or tchervonetz

noun

PLURAL

chervontsi

1. a former gold coin and monetary unit of the U.S.S.R., equal to ten rubles.

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chervonets British  

/ tʃəˈvɔːnɛts /

noun

1. (formerly) a Soviet monetary unit and gold coin worth ten roubles

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Etymology

Origin of chervonets

First recorded in 1920–25; from Russian chervónets, Old Russian chervon(n)yi “a similar gold coin,” from Polish czerwony “a gold coin”, literally, “red” (apparently because gold of a high purity was thought to have a reddish cast), cognate with Czech červený, Serbo-Croatian cr̀ven, cr̀(v)ljen, Bulgarian chervén, from unattested Slavic čṛvljen, originally past participle of unattested čṛviti “to dye red,” derivative of unattested čṛvĭ “worm,” kermes ( Serbo-Croatian cr̂v, Polish czerw, Russian chervʾ ), a by-form of unattested čṛmĭ; compare Old Church Slavonic chrĭmĭnŭ “red”; crimson, vermilion