What does dirhem mean?
The dirhem is an alternate spelling of the dirham, the principal unit of currency in Morocco and the United Arab Emirates. In everyday commerce, prices are quoted in dirhems, each subdivided into smaller fractional units depending on the country. The word's history reaches back more than two millennia: it descends from the Greek drachma, passing through Persian as a term for both a coin and a unit of weight before entering Arabic. In the medieval Islamic world, the dirhem served as a standard measure of silver and appeared throughout trade records from North Africa to Central Asia. Today the spelling 'dirham' is standard in official contexts, while 'dirhem' survives chiefly in older texts and informal usage. The plural may be left unchanged or given an English -s ending.
The basic monetary unit of Morocco and the United Arab Emirates; a variant spelling of dirham.
"Admission to the museum costs twenty dirhems."
The standard modern spelling is 'dirham'; 'dirhem' appears mainly in historical or non-official texts.
A former unit of weight in Islamic countries, historically used especially in measuring silver.
"Merchants weighed the silver bullion by the dirhem."
This sense is now largely historical.
Both the anglicized plural 'dirhems' and the invariant form are accepted; financial writing often leaves currency names unchanged.
"The meal came to ninety-five dirhems."
The word 'dirhem' traveled from ancient Greek drachma through Persian into Arabic — making it one of the oldest continuously used money words on Earth.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of dirhem
The word derives from the Arabic dirham, itself borrowed from Middle Persian drahm, which ultimately traces back to the Greek drachma, an ancient coin. It entered European languages through contact with the Islamic world during the medieval period. Cognates include the Armenian dram, another modern currency that shares the same Greek ancestry.
How dirhem is actually used
'Dirhem' is a less common variant spelling of the standard 'dirham', which is the preferred form in official and financial contexts. The plural is typically left unchanged or rendered as 'dirhems'/'dirhams' in informal English use.
Easily confused with dirhem
Dirhem is simply a variant spelling of dirham; both refer to the same currency unit, but 'dirham' is the standard official form.
A dram is a unit of weight (and a monetary unit in Armenia), whereas the dirhem/dirham is the currency of Morocco and the UAE.