dirhem

• dirham

Borrowed from Turkish dirhem, from Ottoman Turkish, borrowing from Persian, borrowing from Arabic دِرْهَم‎ (dirham), borrowing from Middle Persian, borrowing from Ancient Greek δραχμή (drakhmḗ). Doublet of drachma and diram.

dirhem (plural dirhems)

1. (historical units of measurement) A former small Turkish unit of weight, variously reckoned as 1.5–3.5 g (.05–.12 oz.).
   • 1819, Abraham Rees, The Cyclopaedia, Vol. XXX, s.v. "Rottolo":

     At Aleppo, and its port Scanderoon, the cantaro contains 100 rottoli, each of which is subdivided into 12 ounces, or 720 drachms... The rottolo with which the silks from Tripoli, and other parts of Syria, are weighed, consists of 700 drachms, answering to 4⅞ avoirdupois. The rottolo used in weighing the Persian silks contains 680 drachms, or nearly 4¾ lbs. avoirdupois. The rottolo of Damascus, with which brass, camphor, benzoin, spikenard, balsam of Mecca, and other drugs are weighed, contains 600 drachms, or 4¹⁄₅ lbs. avoirdupois. Five rottoli, or 3600 drachms, make what is called a vesno... At Saide, in Syria, (the ancient Sidon,) silk and sattin yarn are weighed with the rottolo of Damascus, of 600 drachms; 100 such rottoli answering to about 410 lbs. avoirdupois... At Smyrna, the cantaro, or kintal, contains 45 okes, or 100 rottoli. The batman is 6 okes, or 2400 drachms; and the oke is 400 drachms, and the rottolo = 180 drachms. The cantaro of 45 okes weighs 123 lbs. 4 oz. avoirdupois; and, therefore, the oke is = 2 lbs. 11 oz. 13 drs. avoirdupois. At Tripoli, the cantaro weight contains 100 rottoli, each of 6 ounces, or 128 termini; this cantaro answers to 168 lbs. peso sotile of Venice, or about 12 lbs. avoirdupois...

   • 1888, W.M.F. Petrie, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. XXIV, s.v. "Weights and Measures":

     Dram (49·5 grains), 100=chequi, 4=oka (2·8286 ℔); dram (49·5 grains), 180=rotl, 100=kintal or kantar (127·29 ℔).

2. (chiefly historical Turkish contexts) Alternative form of dirham: a former silver coin weighing one dirhem; modern currencies named for it.

• (unit of weight): dram, Turkish dram; drachm, Turkish drachm (obsolete); termini (obsolete)

• (superdivisions of the unit of weight): ounce; cheki; rottol or rotl; oka; batman; kantar or quintal

dirhem

1. A unit of weight: 1 dirhem = 3.12 gramme (obsolete).
2. Silver coin (historical).

• Mirjejev, V. A.; Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎, Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN

From Ottoman Turkish درهم‎ (dirhem), from Persian درهم‎ (dirham), from Ancient Greek δραχμή (drakhmḗ). Compare dràhma.

• IPA^(key): /dǐrxem/
• Hyphenation: dir‧hem

dìrhem m (Cyrillic spelling дѝрхем)

1. (regional, historical) dirham (especially silver coin used during the Ottoman Empire)