Definition of "piastre" []

• A Spanish or Spanish-American coin and unit of currency, originally worth eight real. (noun)
• A form of currency originally used in the Ottoman Empire, and now used in the Middle Eastern countries of Egypt, Lebanon, Sudan and Syria. (noun)

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• "But the piastre is a name for coins of very different kinds; there are, for instance, the Government, the bazaar, the current, and the copper piastre, all and each of them representing completely different values."
• "It is the smallest Egyptian coin, made of very base metal and, there being forty to the piastre, it is worth nearly a quarter of a farthing."
• "Greek “Asper,” some silver; and representing, when at par, the fortieth of a piastre, the latter = 2d. 2/5ths."