# currency
## English
### Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin currentia, from Latin currēns, from currō. By surface analysis, current +‎ -cy.

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈkʌɹ.ən.si/
* (US) IPA: /ˈkʌɹ.ən.si/, /ˈkɝ.ən.si/
* Audio (US, hurry–furry merger):(file)

### Noun

currency (countable and uncountable, plural currencies)
* Money or other items used to facilitate transactions.
    Wampum was used as a currency by Amerindians.
** 1986 May 25, William G. McBride, “INVESTING; CHASING RETURNS IN DIFFERENT CURRENCIES”, in The New York Times‎:Money managers who play down currencies tend to argue that outguessing foreign exchange markets in the short term is perilous, and that, over the long haul, shifts in currency values tend to offset one another.
* (more specifically) Paper money.
** 1943, William Saroyan, chapter 3, in The Human Comedy:Spangler went through his pockets, coming out with a handful of small coins, one piece of currency and a hard-boiled egg.
* The state of being current; general acceptance, recognition or use.
    The jargon’s currency.
** 1983 April 9, Kenneth Hale Wehmann, “Conscientious Resistance”, in Gay Community News, page 5:Fear of punishment has no currency with me as long as I remain convinced of the larger value of what I have done.
* (obsolete) Current value; general estimation; the rate at which anything is generally valued.
** a. 1627 (date written), Francis [Bacon], “Considerations Touching a Warre with Spaine. […]”, in William Rawley, editor, Certaine Miscellany Works of the Right Honourable Francis Lo. Verulam, Viscount S. Alban. […], London: […] I. Hauiland for Humphrey Robinson, […], published 1629, →OCLC:He […] takes greatness of kingdoms according to their bulk and currency, and not after intrinsic value.
** 1819 July 31, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “English Writers on America”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., number II, New York, N.Y.: […] C[ornelius] S. Van Winkle, […], →OCLC, page 112:The bare name of Englishman […] too often gave a transient currency to the worthless and ungrateful.
* (obsolete) Fluency; readiness of utterance.

#### Derived terms

* currency adjustment factor
* currency band
* currency basket
* currency cocktail
* currency code
* currency control
* currency crisis
* currency detector
* currency exchange
* currency intervention
* currency lad
* currency lass
* currency overlay
* currency risk
* currency sign
* currency strap
* currency war
* closed currency
* commodity currency
* common currency
* cryptocurrency, crypto-currency, crypto currency
* cybercurrency
* digital currency
* e-currency
* eurocurrency
* Eurocurrency
* fiat currency
* foreign currency
* green currency
* hard currency
* in-game currency
* key currency
* metacurrency
* microcurrency
* multicurrency
* noncurrency
* paper currency
* petrocurrency
* reserve currency
* settlement currency
* single currency
* time-based currency
* toy currency
* virtual currency
* wildcat currency
* xenocurrency

#### Related terms

* course
* current

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### See also

* Category:Currency symbols