drachma

[ drak-muh, drahk- ]
/ ˈdræk mə, ˈdrɑk- /

noun, plural drach·mas, drach·mae [drak-mee, drahk-] /ˈdræk mi, ˈdrɑk-/.

a cupronickel coin and monetary unit of modern Greece until the euro was adopted, equal to 100 lepta. Abbreviation: dr., drch.
the principal silver coin of ancient Greece.
a small unit of weight in ancient Greece, approximately equivalent to the U.S. and British apothecaries' dram.
any of various modern weights, especially a dram.
Also drachm.

Origin of drachma

1520–30; < Latin < Greek drachmḗ, probably equivalent to drach- base of drássesthai to grasp + -mē noun suffix (hence literally, handful)

OTHER WORDS FROM drachma

drach·mal, adjective

Words nearby drachma

drab, drabbet, drabble, dracaena, drachm, drachma, drack, draco, draco lizard, dracone, draconian

Example sentences from the Web for drachma

British Dictionary definitions for drachma

drachma
/ (ˈdrækmə) /

noun plural -mas or -mae (-miː)

the former standard monetary unit of Greece, divided into 100 lepta; replaced by the euro in 2002
US another name for dram (def. 2)
a silver coin of ancient Greece
a unit of weight in ancient Greece

Word Origin for drachma

C16: from Latin, from Greek drakhmē a handful, from drassesthai to seize