A monetary unit used in several Arab countries, including the United Arab Emirates and Morocco. It is subdivided into smaller units called fils or centimes.
From Arabic 'dirham', which derives from Greek 'drachma', the ancient Greek silver coin. The word traveled through Persian and Arabic trade routes, maintaining its connection to silver currency throughout history.
The dirham represents one of the oldest continuously used currency names in human history, spanning over 2,000 years from ancient Greece to modern Dubai. Interestingly, while ancient Greek drachmas were silver, today's dirhams are primarily aluminum and nickel alloy coins, showing how currency materials evolve while names persist.
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