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Glite Dictionary
💵 Ethiopian money 🌀 A whirring sound 🌀 To whir
birr

birr

1 9.9
The currency of Ethiopia divided into 100 cents
  • noun
  • /bɪr/
translation icon : birr
  • When he sold his old phone, he received birr 200 for it.
  • 0.70 birr
  • birr a month
  • birr worth

Examples

  • He saved a total of birr 250 to buy a new bicycle.

  • The prints can be purchased for one or two birr, which is approximately 10 to 20 US cents, and they are sold on sidewalks, especially outside Ethiopian Orthodox churches.

    Academic text (2009)

  • He appreciated the quality and originality of Adamu's work and employed the artist at a salary of 50 birr a month, slightly under the average salary in Ethiopia at the time.

    Academic text (2004)

  • Physicians are now required to serve in the public sector for a number of years or pay a sum of 450,000 birr (that's $26,300) before they receive their diplomas.

    Blog text (13)

  • Desta Hagos has commented that some Ethiopians have even spent up to 15,000 birr (US$2000) on one artwork.

    Academic text (2009)

  • The cost of the meal was birr 35, which included drinks and dessert.

Surface Forms

birr singular
birrs plural

Etymology

Birr comes from an Amharic word birr meaning 'silver', because the name started as a word for a silver coin, so it became the name of the country's money.