tael

American  

[teyl] / teɪl /

noun

1. liang.

2. any of various similar units of weight in East Asia.

3. a former Chinese money of account, being the value of this weight of standard silver.

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tael British  

/ teɪl /

noun

1. a unit of weight, used in the Far East, having various values between one to two and a half ounces

2. (formerly) a Chinese monetary unit equivalent in value to a tael weight of standard silver

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Etymology

Origin of tael

First recorded in 1580–90; from Portuguese from Malay tahil “liang”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tael

The cash of Tongchuan are very small and inferior, 2000 being equivalent to one tael, whereas in Chaotong, 110 miles away, the cash vary from 1260 to 1640 the tael.

From An Australian in China Being the Narrative of a Quiet Journey Across China to Burma by George Ernest Morrison

The weight of a tael is one and one-eighth ounces.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 — Volume 03 of 55 1569-1576 Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century by Emma Helen Blair

Hong-Kong, for instance, is quoted 1s. 10-3/8d. to the dollar, and Shanghai, 2s. 5-5/8d. to the tael.

From Readings in Money and Banking Selected and Adapted by Chester Arthur Phillips

Between China and the United States the par of exchange is the market value in our dollars of the amount of silver contained in the tael, the Chinese unit.

From Banking by William A. Scott

The tael is not a coin, but a weight.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 2 "Chicago, University of" to "Chiton" by Various