piaster

American  

[pee-as-ter, -ah-ster] / piˈæs tər, -ˈɑ stər /

Or piastre

noun

1. a former coin of Turkey, one 100th of a lira: replaced by the kurus in 1933.

2. a monetary unit of Egypt, Lebanon, Sudan, and Syria, one 100th of a pound.

3. a former monetary unit of South Vietnam: replaced by the dong in 1976.

4. the former peso or dollar of Spain and Spanish America.

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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

"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

At one point the piaster fell to 2,000 to $1; the rate was 800 to $1 only a few days earlier.

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

It was against such a danger that she had long ago stolen a garden key, a key to the outer world in which she had neither a friend nor a piaster to save her....

From The Fortieth Door by Bradley, Mary Hastings