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paper money

paper money

16 1.6
Money made of printed paper notes that a government uses
  • noun
  • /ˈpeɪpər ˈmʌni/
translation icon : billete
  • Soldiers who received paper money as pay and city dwellers were the biggest victims.
  • coins and paper money
  • inconvertible paper money
  • print paper money

They made both paper money and tokens.

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Examples

  • Among the more economically interesting characteristics of Song China was its widespread use of paper money.

    Academic text (2017)
  • The man opened his basket and counted out sixteen bundles of paper money.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • And so every country in the world has a paper money that has the name of their central bank on it.

  • So all the paper money was backed up entirely by gold.

  • Amsterdam's bank was not the first to use paper money, which had been first used in China.

  • I don't suppose you have any paper money in that vault.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • As the fallout gathers steam, paper money will lose purchasing power faster and faster.

    Blog text (8)
  • What we decided to do instead was just issue more paper money because printing money is going to instill more confidence in the Bank of Japan.

  • Russia and Austria-Hungary had a fiat paper money regime, as did most Latin American states.

    Academic text (1990)
  • The store only accepts paper money, so make sure to bring some with you.

Synonyms

cash
vspaper money
1.0

Money in the form of coins and bills

is limited to printed notes, excluding coins and electronic payments
bill
vspaper money
  • US
295 1.5

Money made of paper that people use to pay for things

is the overall term for printed notes rather than the unit name
banknote
vspaper money
7 3.0

A paper form of money that people use to pay for things

is the same idea but named as a single-word modern form
bank note
vspaper money
5 1.7

Paper money issued by a central bank used to pay for things

is the same idea but given as the spaced two-word form
paper currency
vspaper money
3 2.5

Money in printed notes that people use instead of coins

is the general phrase for the same printed note form
folding money
vspaper money
  • US
1 3.2

Paper money that people carry in a wallet

is the standard term for printed notes without the casual phrase
government note
vspaper money
3.7

Paper money issued by a country's central bank used to buy things

is the broader term not limited to government-labelled issues
bank bill
vspaper money
3.2

A piece of paper money issued by a central bank used to pay for things

is the neutral name for printed notes without the bank qualifier
banker's bill
vspaper money
7.2

A piece of paper used as money and issued by a central bank

is the straightforward phrase for printed notes, not that specific label

Surface Forms

paper money singular
paper moneys plural

Morphology

paper + money

The meaning 'money in the form of printed paper notes' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'paper' (the material) with 'money' (currency); a B1 learner who knows both words can infer it refers to money made of paper rather than coins. This noun‑noun compositional pattern is cross‑linguistically common and follows straightforward English compounding, so the sense is immediately comprehensible.

Etymology

Paper money comes from a simple idea: people once left heavy coins at a bank and got pieces of paper as a 'receipt' saying they had that money. Over time those bank 'receipts' became the actual printed notes people used to buy things, so today paper money means printed bank notes used instead of coins.