Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
Syrian pound

Syrian pound

3.7
The currency used in Syria, equal to 100 piasters
  • noun
translation icon : libra siria
  • The Syrian pound has been pegged to a basket of currencies based on the IMF's special drawing rights (SDR) since October 2007, resulting in a marked appreciation against the US dollar.

Examples

  • They slipped notes of 100 or 200 Syrian pounds into the receptive hands.

  • He would need Syrian pounds from the ATM.

  • It was 50 sheep, twenty golden liras, a rifle, plus 300 Syrian pounds as haq al-dakhal (the protector's right).

    Academic text (1990)

  • It cost 50,000 Syrian pounds, about $700, to pay someone from outside to sneak her past the camp's security.

Surface Forms

Syrian pound singular
Syrian pounds plural

Morphology

Syrian + pound

The meaning 'the basic unit of currency in Syria' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'Syrian' (pertaining to Syria) with 'pound' (a currency unit). This country-adjective + currency-unit pattern is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Syrian pound comes from an old idea that a pound was a pound weight of silver used as money long ago. When Syria set up its modern money, the English name became 'pound' for the country's unit of money. So, Syrian pound means 'the unit of currency in Syria'.