nomisma · noun — money or currency (modern). It carries an Arena rating of 1474, earned across 4 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, nomisma ranks #841 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #2,134 of 17,151 for The Improbable, #3,321 of 17,106 for Most Storied Words, #3,414 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words.
nomisma is pronounced /nə(ʊ)ˈmɪzmə/.
Why “nomisma” is a great word
NOMISMA — [Noun] A coin or piece of currency, especially the standard gold coin of the Byzantine Empire. From Ancient Greek νόμισμα (nómisma, "coin, currency"), from νομίζω (nomízō, "to use customarily, to hold as a custom"), from νόμος (nómos, "custom, law"), ultimately from νέμω (némō, "to distribute"). Unlike "specie" (which merely denotes coinage in material contrast to paper) or "fiat" (which is value declared by decree alone), a nomisma is the physical artifact of ratified custom, a small, heavy circle of consensus. It is the cool, impressed weight of a bezant in a merchant's palm; the faint clink in a silk-lined purse on the road to Constantinople; the sun catching the eroded profile of a basileus—a fragment of order minted from the raw ore of human agreement, value made small enough to hold, and cold enough to forget it was ever an idea.
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Etymology
Borrowed from Ancient Greek νόμισμα (nómisma), from νομίζω (nomízō, “to use customarily”) + -μα (-ma, “nominal suffix”), from νόμος (nómos, “custom”) + -ίζω (-ízō, denominative verb suffix), from νέμω (némō, “to distribute”) + -ος (-os). Related to French numismatique, Latin numismat- + -ique, variant of Latin nomisma, from Ancient Greek νόμισμα (nómisma).
noun
- Money or currency (modern).
- Coinage, especially with connotation as a means to control a monetary system (rare).
- Current coin of a state (ancient).
- Coinage, a monetary system.
- A byzant.
- A stamp, an image on a coin.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
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