Cash (currency)
Cash is a name for several historical
Etymology
Tamil kācu/kāsu, Skr. karsha 'a weight of silver or gold equal to 1⁄400 of a tulā' (Williams). The early Portuguese writers represented the native word by cas, casse, caxa, the Fr. by cas, the Eng. by cass: the existing Pg. caixa and Eng. cash are due to a natural confusion with CASH n.1. From an early date the Portuguese applied caixa (probably on the same analogy) to the small money of other foreign nations, such as that of Maritime Southeast Asia, and especially the Chinese, which was also naturally made into cash in English. (Yule)"[1] The English word "cash," meaning "tangible currency," is an older word from Middle French caisse.[2]
Chinese cash
In China, cash - not to be confused with
Vietnamese cash
Cash (văn) was a currency unit for copper coinage in Vietnam until the introduction of the
Madras cash
Cash was a currency unit of
.- 80 cash = 1 fanam
- 12 fanams = 1 rupee
- 42 fanams = 1 pagoda
Copper coins of 20 cash were called pice, 10 cash were called dodees, and 5 cash were called half dodees.[3]
Travancore cash
Travancore cash was similar to the Madras cash yet differed in the value compared to the rupee.
- 16 cash = 1 chakram
- 4 chakram = 1 fanam
- 7 fanam = 1 rupee
thus, 1 rupee = 448 cash.[4]
See also
- Cash (Chinese coin)
- List of English words of Sanskrit origin
- List of English words of Dravidian origin
Notes
- ^ "Cash, n.²". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ^ Douglas Harper (2001). "Online Etymology Dictionary". Retrieved 2007-04-11.
- ^ Robert Montgomery Martin. History of the Colonies of the British Empire. London: W. H. Allen, 1843. p. 342.
- ^ Imperial Gazetteer of India, Provincial Series, Madras II: The Southern and West Coast Districts, Native States, and French Possessions. 1908. p. 419.