rouble

[roo-buh l]

noun

ruble.

ruble

or rou·ble

[roo-buh l]

noun

a silver or copper-alloy coin and monetary unit of Russia, the Soviet Union, and its successor states, equal to 100 kopecks.

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for rouble

Historical Examples of rouble

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.
Through Siberia and Manchuria By Rail
Oliver George Ready

British Dictionary definitions for rouble

rouble

ruble

noun

the standard monetary unit of Belarus and Russia, divided into 100 kopecks
the former standard monetary unit of Tajikistan, divided into 100 tanga

Word Origin for rouble

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

ruble

noun

a variant spelling of rouble

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

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.)).