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rouble

[roo-buh l]
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noun
  1. ruble.
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ruble

or rou·ble

[roo-buh l]
noun
  1. a silver or copper-alloy coin and monetary unit of Russia, the Soviet Union, and its successor states, equal to 100 kopecks.
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Origin of ruble

1545–55; < Russian rubl'; Old Russian rublĭ literally, stump, plug, derivative of rubiti to chop; probably orig. denoting a piece cut from a silver bar, or a bar notched for division into smaller pieces
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for rouble

Historical Examples

  • I've blown last night every rouble I had from my dad the other day.

    Under Western Eyes

    Joseph Conrad

  • Every kopeck, every rouble, has gone to tighten that embrace.

    The Genius

    Margaret Horton Potter

  • It is true it might have been worth no more than a kopeck, but a kopeck is to him what a rouble is to me.

    Foma Gordyeff

    Maxim Gorky

  • While here we have to go to the Exchange and try to aim well to make a rouble.

    Foma Gordyeff

    Maxim Gorky

  • The rouble is equivalent to about two shillings and a penny.

British Dictionary definitions for rouble

rouble

ruble

noun
  1. the standard monetary unit of Belarus and Russia, divided into 100 kopecks
  2. the former standard monetary unit of Tajikistan, divided into 100 tanga
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Word Origin

C16: from Russian rubl silver bar, from Old Russian rublǐ bar, block of wood, from rubiti to cut up

ruble

noun
  1. a variant spelling of rouble
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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

Word Origin and History for rouble

ruble

n.

unit of the Russian monetary system, 1550s, via French rouble, from Russian rubl', perhaps from Old Russian rubiti "to chop, cut, hew," so called because the original metallic currency of Russia (14c.) consisted of silver bars, from which the necessary amount was cut off; from Proto-Slavic *rub-, from PIE root *reub-, *reup- "to snatch" (see rip (v.)).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper