piaster

[pee-as-ter, -ah-ster] /piˈæs tər, -ˈɑ stər/
noun
1.
a former coin of Turkey, the 100th part of a lira: replaced by the kurus in 1933.
2.
a monetary unit of Egypt, Lebanon, Sudan, and Syria, the 100th part of a pound.
3.
a former monetary unit of South Vietnam: replaced by the dong in 1976.
4.
the former peso or dollar of Spain and Spanish America.
Also, piastre.
Origin
1605-15; < French piastre < Italian piastra thin sheet of metal, silver coin (short for piastra d'argento, literally, plate of silver), akin to piastro plaster
Examples from the web for piaster
  • These were essentially barter economies where the piaster, the national currency, was largely incidental to local life.
  • But the model was made of piaster, which is unsubstantial and fleeting.
British Dictionary definitions for piaster

piastre

/pɪˈæstə/
noun
1.
(formerly) the standard monetary unit of South Vietnam, divided into 100 cents
2.
a fractional monetary unit of Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria worth one hundredth of a pound; formerly also used in the Sudan
3.
another name for kuruş
4.
a rare word for piece of eight
Word Origin
C17: from French piastre, from Italian piastra d'argento silver plate; related to Italian piastroplaster
Word Origin and History for piaster
n.

also piastre, 1620s, "Spanish dollar, piece of eight," also used as the name of a monetary unit and coin of Turkey (1610s, in Turkish called ghurush, but originally debased Spanish dollars), from French piastre, from Italian piastra "thin metal plate," short for impiastro "plaster," from Latin emplastrum, from Greek emplastron (see plaster). The Italian word was applied to the Spanish silver peso, later to the Turkish coin based on it. Cf. shinplaster.