franc

American  

[frangk, frahn] / fræŋk, frɑ̃ /

noun

• francs
  plural

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.

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franc British  

/ 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 )

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• francs
  plural

Etymology

Origin of franc

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

See Examples For:

franc francs

The Swiss franc has declined against the euro since March, and investors don’t expect it to change its policy rate from the current 0% this year.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Chances are, the Swiss franc will always be costly, Cox said.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026

The appreciation of the Swiss franc, notably against the U.S. dollar, hurt results when reported in Swiss francs compared with a constant-currency basis, it said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

Goldman said the amount of carry available relative to expected volatility in trades such as U.S. dollar-Canadian dollar and euro-Swiss franc is now close to multidecade highs.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026

If the company borrowed millions of francs and then went bust, Armand Peugeot did not owe its creditors a single franc.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari

Exports to the U.S. rose by around 27% to 701.3 million francs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

Growth was spearheaded by items priced above 3,000 francs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

On said it swung to a second-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 0.35 francs a share, beating expectations of 0.34 francs, as sales increased by 13.5% to 850.3 million francs.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026

Analysts had expected revenue of 884 million francs, according to Visible Alpha.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026

In fact, when he gets a raise—he’s now earning four thousand francs a year—he sends about a third of it to Vincent.

From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman