# dirhem

Pronunciation: US say "dur-HEM" /dɚˈhɛm/; UK say "DEER-em" /ˈdɪəɹɛm/

## Noun

1. Alternative form of dirham. — Alternative form of dirham: a former silver coin weighing one dirhem; modern currencies named for it.
   - Simple: Alternative form of dirham. Both spellings name the same coin or money.
   - _The trader counted out a handful of dirhems to settle the debt._
   - _A worn dirhem from the old mint turned up in the excavation._
2. A former small Turkish unit of weight, reckoned variously between about 1.5 and 3.5 grams.
   - Simple: A small old unit of weight once used in Turkey, equal to just a few grams.
   - _The apothecary measured each dose in dirhems, rarely more than two at a time._
   - _A single dirhem of saffron commanded a high price in the bazaar._

## Origin

Borrowed from Turkish dirhem, from Ottoman Turkish dirhem, itself from Persian dirham and Arabic dirham, which came through Middle Persian from Ancient Greek δραχμή (drakhmḗ). It is a doublet of dram, drachma, diram, dirham, and adarme.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/dirhem (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).