Skip to main content
Turkish lira

Turkish lira

1 3.9
The official money used in Turkey
  • noun
translation icon : lira turca
  • The exchange rate shows that 1 dollar is worth about 27 Turkish lira today.
  • Turkish lira fell

Examples

  • Until the end of 2010, high-yielding foreign deposits in the Turkish lira accounted for virtually all of the debt.

    Academic text (2012)
  • Lower interest rates depressed the Turkish lira by discouraging capital inflows.

    Academic text (2012)
  • The Turkish lira (TRY) fell by a quarter between November 2010 and September 2011, making it the world's worst performing emerging market currency.

    Academic text (2012)
  • When traveling to Turkey, remember to exchange your currency for Turkish lira for local purchases.

  • Inflation has caused the value of the Turkish lira to decrease significantly over the past year.

Synonyms

lira
vsTurkish lira
7 6.4

A unit of money used in Turkey and formerly in Italy and Malta

is the official current national unit rather than a historical or foreign one

Surface Forms

Turkish lira singular
Turkish liras plural

Morphology

Turkish + lira

The meaning 'the official basic unit of currency in Turkey' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'Turkish' (pertaining to Turkey) with 'lira' (a unit of currency). This follows a common country-adjective + currency-noun pattern (e.g., 'British pound', 'US dollar') that B1 learners who know the constituents can easily interpret.

Etymology

Turkish lira comes from an old word for a weight and a coin. The part lira comes from Latin 'libra', which meant 'pound', because people once measured coins by weight. So Turkish lira today is the name for 'Turkey's money'.