piaster

or pi·as·tre

[ pee-as-ter, -ah-ster ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

a former coin of Turkey, one 100th of a lira: replaced by the kurus in 1933.
a monetary unit of Egypt, Lebanon, Sudan, and Syria, one 100th 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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Word History and Origins

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

piassava piastre

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