Etymologically
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currency

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 03:24. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈkʌr.ən.si/, US /ˈkɝː.ən.si/[1]

Etymology

It was formed in English, either from obsolete currence, modelled on from Medieval Latin *currentia (“a current of a stream”),[2][3] or from current, on the pattern of decent, decency.[2][4] Both go back to Latin currēns (“running”), the present participle of currere (“to run”),[5][2] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *kers- (“to run”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A flow or course; a current or stream: 1657 in the OED and Barnhart,[6][2] while MWU dates its first sense to 1624.[6][2][3]

Semantic evolution

The idea of passing from person to person led to the sense of money's being in circulation, from Locke in 1699, suggested by the older use of current for money in circulation (1481).[2][6][5] General acceptance or prevalence followed in 1722,[6][5] and the money itself in circulation in 1729, in Benjamin Franklin.[2][6][5] The time during which something is current is from 1726.[6] In colonial use currency named local money worth less than sterling (1755), and in Australia, native-born Australians as distinct from those born in Britain (1827).[6]

Timeline

  • 1624 – first sense, in MWU.[3]
  • 1657 – a flow.[6]
  • 1699 – circulation of money.[2]
  • 1722 – general acceptance.[6]
  • 1729 – money in circulation.[6][2]
  • 1827 – native-born Australians.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The money in use in a particular country.
  2. General acceptance or use: the idea gained currency.
  3. The fact of being in circulation as a medium of exchange.
  4. The time during which something is valid or in force.

Word family

  • eurocurrency
  • xenocurrency
  • hard currency
  • reserve currency

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press