Tunisian dirham
- noun
- Archaic
:
dirham tunecino
- A hundred Tunisian dirhams were equal to one dinar under the old monetary system.
Examples
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The Tunisian dirham was replaced by the Tunisian dinar.
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In the early twentieth century, the Tunisian dirham was a commonly used unit of currency.
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Historians often reference the Tunisian dirham when discussing Tunisia's economic past.
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I have five Tunisian dirhams in my wallet.
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A hundred Tunisian dirhams were equal to one dinar under the old monetary system.
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In the early twentieth century, the Tunisian dirham was a commonly used unit of currency.
-
Historians often reference the Tunisian dirham when discussing Tunisia's economic past.
Synonyms
1
8.3
A unit of money used in some North African and Middle Eastern countries
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines the adjective 'Tunisian' (pertaining to Tunisia) with 'dirham' (a currency unit), so its meaning as the currency of Tunisia is directly derivable from the constituents. This adjectival + noun composition for naming currencies is cross-linguistically common, making it immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner who knows both words.
Etymology
The noun Tunisian dirham may come from the old coin called dirham, a small silver coin people used for everyday payments, and Tunisian shows it was the local coin in Tunisia. So, the name came to mean the small money unit 'one hundredth of a dinar'.