Etymology
The Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu) words rūpiya is derived form Sanskrit word rūpya, which means "wrought silver, a coin of silver", in origin an adjective meaning "shapely", with a more specific meaning of "stamped, impressed", whence "coin". It is derived from the noun rūpa "shape, likeness, image." The word rūpa is being further identified as having sprung from the Dravidian (proto-Tamil) root uruppu, which means "a member of the body".
Rūpya was used as a generic descriptor or a common noun for silver coins of any denomination at least since the Magadha kingdom. Rūpiya was adopted as the name of a silver coin weighing 178 grains minted in northern India by Pashtun (Afghan) Emperor Sher Shah Suri during his brief rule between 1540–1545. Suri also introduced copper coins called Dam and gold coins called Mohur that weighed 169 grains. Later Mughal Emperors also standardised this coinage of tri-metalism across the sub-continent in order to consolidate the monetary system.
Read more about this topic: Rupee
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)