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Glite Dictionary
Saudi Arabian riyal

Saudi Arabian riyal

3.7
The main money used in Saudi Arabia, divided into 100 halalas
  • noun
translation icon : riyal saudí
  • She saved up 10,000 Saudi Arabian riyals to finance her trip to Europe.

Examples

  • In Saudi Arabia, you can exchange your foreign currency for Saudi Arabian riyals at many banks.

  • The price of the car is 50,000 Saudi Arabian riyals, which is around 13,000 US dollars.

  • According to the officer's account, Abdul Hamid agreed to carry out the curse in exchange for 6,000 Saudi Arabian riyals (approximately 1,000).

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Synonyms

riyal
vsSaudi Arabian riyal
1 7.8

The main money used in Saudi Arabia

is the fuller term that specifies the country of this currency

Surface Forms

Saudi Arabian riyal singular
Saudi Arabian riyals plural

Morphology

Saudi + Arabian + riyal

The meaning is fully compositional: 'Saudi'/'Arabian' specify origin and 'riyal' names a currency, so a learner who knows those words will infer 'the currency of Saudi Arabia.' This country-adjective + currency-noun pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows regular English noun phrase composition, making the MWE immediately understandable to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Saudi Arabian riyal may come from the old Spanish word 'real' meaning 'royal'. Long ago, Spanish coins called 'real' were used in trade and the name became riyal in Arabic, so Saudi Arabian riyal is simply the name for the country's money.