A former monetary unit used in some Middle Eastern and North African countries, worth a small fraction of a larger currency unit.
From Arabic 'ghirsh' or Hebrew 'girsh', originally from Spanish 'quarto' meaning quarter. The term spread through Mediterranean and Middle Eastern trade networks to describe fractional currency.
This word traveled along the same trade routes as spices and silk—when the Spanish silver coin became common in the Mediterranean, Arabic speakers adapted the word and it stuck around for centuries even after the original coins disappeared. It's a ghost word that shows the ghost of historical commerce.
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