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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. Any of several ancient units of weight, especially a Hebrew unit equal to about a half ounce.
  2. n. A gold or silver coin equal in weight to one of these units, especially the chief silver coin of the ancient Hebrews.
  3. n. Slang A coin.
  4. n. Slang Money.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. A unit of weight first used in Babylonia, and there equal to one sixtieth part of a mina. As there were two Assyrian minas, so there were two shekels, one of 17 grams (258 grains troy), the other of 8.4 grams (129 grains). A trade shekel had a weight of 8.2 grams (127 grains). Modified both in value and in its relation to the mina, the shekel was adopted by the Phenicians, Hebrews, and other peoples. There were many different Phenician shekels, varying through 15.2 grams (234 grains), 14.5 grams (224 grains), 14.1 grams (218 grains), down to 13.5 grams (208 grains). The Hebrew shekel, at least under the Maccabees, was 14.1 grams. See also siglos.
  2. n. The chief silver coin of the Jews, probably first coined in 141 b. c. by Simon Maccabæus. Obverse, “Shekel of Israel,” pot of manna or a sacred vessel; reverse, “Jerusalem the holy,” flower device, supposed to be Aaron's rod budding. Specimens usually weigh from 212 to 220 grains. Half-shekels were also struck in silver at the same date.
  3. n. plural Coins; coin; money.

Wiktionary

  1. n. A currency unit of both ancient and modern Israel.
  2. n. informal money.
  3. n. An ancient unit of weight equivalent to one-fiftieth of a mina.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. An ancient weight and coin used by the Jews and by other nations of the same stock.
  2. n. A jocose term for money.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. the basic unit of money in Israel

Etymologies

  1. From Akkadian šiqlu via Hebrew שקל (sheqel), from שקל (shaqal, "to weigh"). (Wiktionary)
  2. Hebrew šeqel, from šāqal, to weigh; see ṯql in Semitic roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

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synonyms (1)

Words with the same meaning

  1. coin

hypernyms (1)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. israeli monetary unit

same context (12)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. land-surface
  2. tael
  1. live-stock
  2. airstrike
  1. air-strike
  2. half-bushel
  1. folksinger
  2. lazar-house
  1. kilowatt
  2. sedilia
  1. government
  2. hardliner

rhymes (5)

Words with the same terminal sound

  1. dekle
  1. freckle
  1. heckle
  1. seckel
  1. speckle

reverse dictionary (5)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. sicle
  1. silverling
  1. bekah
  1. gerah
  1. agora

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Lists

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Comments

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  • bilby "When I asked why, he said that the anarchist lot thought it would give them their chance. Everything would be in the melting-pot, and they looked to see a new world emerge. The capitalists would rake in the shekels, and make fortunes by buying up wreckage. Capital, he said, had no conscience and no fatherland."
    - John Buchan, 'The Thirty-Nine Steps'. Aug 27, 2009

  • gangerh Ta, mollusque. Jun 16, 2008

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‘shekel’ has been looked up 1684 times, added to 22 lists, commented on 2 times, and has a Scrabble score of 13.