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Malawi kwacha

Malawi kwacha

7.6
The official money used in Malawi
  • noun
translation icon : kwacha de Malaui
  • The price of imported goods increased as the value of the Malawi kwacha fell against the dollar.

Examples

  • He exchanged his dollars for Malawi kwacha at the airport bank.

  • All transactions in the country must be conducted in Malawi kwacha.

  • I exchanged my dollars for Malawi kwacha.

  • The price of the book is 500 Malawi kwachas.

  • All transactions in the country must be conducted in Malawi kwacha.

  • He exchanged his dollars for Malawi kwacha at the airport bank.

  • The price of imported goods increased as the value of the Malawi kwacha fell against the dollar.

Synonyms

kwacha
vsMalawi kwacha
9.9

The unit of money used in Malawi

is the official national currency rather than only the basic monetary unit

Surface Forms

Malawi kwacha singular

Morphology

Malawi + kwacha

The phrase is a straightforward place + currency compound: 'Malawi' names the country and 'kwacha' denotes its monetary unit, so a learner who knows both words can infer it means Malawi's currency. This place+currency pattern is cross-linguistically regular and follows normal compositional naming, making it immediately comprehensible to B1 learners.

Etymology

Malawi kwacha gets its name from the local Chichewa word kwacha, which means 'dawn' or 'daybreak'. When Malawi introduced new money after it became independent, naming it 'dawn' gave a clear picture of a fresh start, so the name became the country's unit of money.