plural birr
: the basic monetary unit of Ethiopia see Money Table

Examples of birr in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web After many arguments and beatings, each migrant agreed to pay the ninety thousand birr. Ed Caesar, The New Yorker, 6 Nov. 2023 Broad money supply has been increasing by 20% annually according to the National Bank of Ethiopia over the last 15 years and skyrocketed from 104.4 billion Ethiopian birr to almost 1 trillion birr this year. Samuel Getachew, Quartz Africa, 14 Sep. 2020 The birr trades at about 99 per dollar, compared with the official rate of 53.5. Karl Lester M Yap, Bloomberg.com, 12 Feb. 2023 Massive devaluation of the birr Since 2017, the government has been undergoing a major devaluation. Hawi Dadhi, Quartz, 5 July 2022 In the past four years the value of birr has dwindled by 126% against the dollar. Hawi Dadhi, Quartz, 5 July 2022 Ethiopia’s Bankers Association noting that over 113 billion Ethiopian birr lives outside of the formal banking system exacerbating the liquidity problems commercial banks have faced this year. Samuel Getachew, Quartz Africa, 14 Sep. 2020 Broad money supply has been increasing by 20% annually according to the National Bank of Ethiopia over the last 15 years and skyrocketed from 104.4 billion Ethiopian birr to almost 1 trillion birr this year. Samuel Getachew, Quartz Africa, 14 Sep. 2020 Subsidies to the state of Tigray from federal government were 10.4 billion birr ($285 million), according to the 476 billion 2020-21 financial year budget. Bloomberg.com, 5 Sep. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'birr.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Amharic bərr, literally, silver

First Known Use

1976, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of birr was in 1976

Dictionary Entries Near birr

Cite this Entry

“Birr.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/birr. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

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