piaster

or pi·as·tre

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

noun

a former coin of Turkey, the 100th part of a lira: replaced by the kurus in 1933.
a monetary unit of Egypt, Lebanon, Sudan, and Syria, the 100th part of a pound.
a former monetary unit of South Vietnam: replaced by the dong in 1976.
the former peso or dollar of Spain and Spanish America.

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Origin of piaster

1605–15; < French piastre < Italian piastra thin sheet of metal, silver coin (short for piastra d'argento, literally, plate of silver), akin to piastro plaster

Words nearby piaster

pianoforte, pianola, piarist, pias., piassava, piaster, piastre, piat, piatigorsk, piatigorsky, piatra neamt
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for piastre

British Dictionary definitions for piastre

piastre

piaster

/ (pɪˈæstə) /

noun

(formerly) the standard monetary unit of South Vietnam, divided into 100 cents
a fractional monetary unit of Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria worth one hundredth of a pound; formerly also used in the Sudan
another name for kuruş
a rare word for piece of eight

Word Origin for piastre

C17: from French piastre, from Italian piastra d'argento silver plate; related to Italian piastro plaster
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012