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Glite Dictionary
tael

tael

7 9.9
A traditional East Asian weight equal to about 38 grams, often used to measure silver or gold
  • noun
  • /teɪl/
  • Archaic
translation icon : tael
  • Things must be quite dire for you to pledge your sword for five measly taels of silver.
  • million taels
  • 100 taels
  • taels of silver

Examples

  • We received a shipment containing one hundred taels of silver coins.

  • If one tael of gold was missing, they was to burn Jungle Village to the ground.

    The Man with the Iron Fists (2012)

  • if you hurry up and get better, i'll give you a hundred taels of silver.

    Tai-Pan (1986)

  • Fifty-thousand taels of gold bullion.

    The Man with the Iron Fists (2012)

  • As soon as Father restores our lawful stipend of 15 taels per month, he will find us as useful as ever.

    The Keys of the Kingdom (1944)

  • When i was virgin,Jin Qua could have sold me easy to Manchu prince... even to the emperor for a thousand taels!

    Tai-Pan (1986)

  • The merchant sold me an exquisite necklace for twenty taels of gold.

  • Each of the silver ingots weighed exactly ten taels.

Synonyms

liang
vstael
  • Specialized
9.9

A traditional Chinese unit of weight equal to about 37 grams

is the same unit but used also as currency and is slightly heavier

Surface Forms

tael singular
taels plural

Etymology

Tael comes from a Chinese word liang meaning 'a unit of weight' that passed into Malay and then into European languages. Like our English units 'ounce' or 'pound', a tael is a fixed weight of about 38 grams and was often used to measure silver and gold, which is why it also became a money unit.