dirham

American  

[dir-ham, dih-ram, dir-uhm] / dɪrˈhæm, dɪˈræm, ˈdɪr əm /

noun

1. a money of account of Iraq, one 20th of a dinar, equal to 50 fils.

2. a money of account of Kuwait, one 10th of a dinar, equal to 100 fils.

3. a brass-clad steel coin and monetary unit of Libya, one 100th of a dinar: replaced the millieme in 1971.

4. a cupronickel coin and monetary unit of Morocco, equal to 100 centimes. DH.

5. a bronze or cupronickel coin of Qatar, one 100th of a riyal.

6. a money of account of Tunisia, one 10th of a dinar, equal to 100 millimes.

7. a cupronickel coin and monetary unit of the United Arab Emirates, equal to 100 fils.

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dirham British  

/ ˈdɪəræm /

noun

1. the standard monetary unit of Morocco, divided into 100 centimes

2. the standard monetary unit of the United Arab Emirates, divided into 10 dinars and 100 fils

3. 1. a Kuwaiti monetary unit worth one tenth of a dinar and 100 fils

   2. a Tunisian monetary unit worth one tenth of a dinar and 100 millimes

   3. a Qatari monetary unit worth one hundredth of a riyal

   4. a Libyan monetary unit worth one thousandth of a dinar

4. any of various silver coins minted in North African countries at different periods

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Etymology

Origin of dirham

First recorded in 1965–70; from Arabic dirham, from Greek dráchma; see drachma

Example Sentences

The Emirati dirham is pegged to the dollar and backed by foreign-currency reserves of $270 billion, but the war has put it under pressures from capital-flight risks, stock-market volatility and other disruptions, analysts said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 19, 2026

Denisov said the bourse would launch rouble trading with the Emirati dirham, the Azeri manat and Egyptian pound.

From Reuters • Dec. 20, 2022

It was one of the rare treats that a dirham could buy in Dubai, which draws both the world’s richest people and legions of low-paid migrant workers.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 24, 2022

“An uncle comes to visit and gives a dirham to each child. They immediately come here and buy this. But it is not good food, these biscuits. And then the package ends here.”

From Washington Post • Aug. 29, 2019

Quoth the baker, "The dirham is beyond all doubt a worthless: see yonder dog of mine, he is but a beast, yet mark me he will tell thee whether it be true or false silver."

From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 13 by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir