- currency
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/kerr"euhn see, kur"-/, n., pl. currencies.1. something that is used as a medium of exchange; money.2. general acceptance; prevalence; vogue.3. a time or period during which something is widely accepted and circulated.4. the fact or quality of being widely accepted and circulated from person to person.5. circulation, as of coin.[1650-60; < ML currentia. See CURRENT, -ENCY]
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In industrialized nations, the portion of the national money supply (consisting of banknotes and government-issued paper money and coins) that does not require endorsement to serve as a medium of exchange.Since the abandonment of the gold standard, governments have not been obligated to repay the holders of currency in any form of precious metal. Consequently, the volume of currency has been determined by the actions of the government or central bank and not by the supply of precious metals. In less-developed societies, or in times of economic scarcity, items such as livestock or tobacco (cigarettes) may serve as currency. See also coinage.* * *
in industrialized nations, portion of the national money supply, consisting of bank notes and government-issued paper money and coins, that does not require endorsement in serving as a medium of exchange; among less developed societies, currency encompasses a wide diversity of items (e.g., livestock, stone carvings, tobacco) used as exchange media as well as signs of value or wealth. In the developed nations, where checks drawn on demand deposits are an important means of transaction, currency may actually account for only a small portion of the total money supply.Since the abandonment of the gold standard in the 1930s, governments have not been obligated to repay the holders of currency in any form of precious metal. Consequently the volume of currency is determined by the actions of the government or central bank and not by the supply of precious metals.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
