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Glite Dictionary
⚖️ A small weight 🪙 Greek coin 💧 A small amount
drachm

drachm

1 9.9
A small weight used long ago in medicine and cooking
  • noun
  • /drækm/
  • Archaic
: dracma
  • The apothecary prescribed two drachms of the powdered herb for each dose.

Examples

  • Old recipes sometimes call for a drachm of spice in their ingredient lists.

  • One drachm is enough.

  • A gold coin weighing a drachm was once standard in ancient Greece.

  • I found a drachm in my pocket.

  • A gold coin weighing a drachm was once standard in ancient Greece.

  • Old recipes sometimes call for a drachm of spice in their ingredient lists.

  • The apothecary prescribed two drachms of the powdered herb for each dose.

Synonyms

dram
vsdrachm
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A small old unit of weight about one sixteenth of an ounce

is the apothecary or Greek small weight and is a different fixed size
drachma
vsdrachm
  • Archaic
9.9

A small old medicine weight equal to about 3.89 grams

is the general small apothecary or ancient Greek weight without that exact fraction

Surface Forms

drachm singular
drachms plural

Etymology

Drachm comes from the Greek word drachmē, which meant 'a handful' and is linked to a word for 'to grasp'. You can still see the same idea in the word dram, which also means a small amount, so a drachm is a small unit of weight you could hold in your hand.