Shekel
/ˈʃɛkəl/noun
A monetary unit of Israel and an ancient Near Eastern unit of weight and currency.
Did you know?In the Hebrew Bible, a shekel was primarily a standardized weight of silver, while coins bearing the name appeared much later.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
Proto-Semitic
*šiql-
“A root associated with weighing and a weighed unit”
2nd Millennium BCE
Akkadian
šiqlu
“A standard weight, especially a measured amount of silver”
1st Millennium BCE
Biblical Hebrew
šeqel
“A weight and monetary unit used in measuring silver”
Ancient Greek
Greek
síglos
“A Persian silver coin, borrowed from the Semitic term for a shekel”
Late Antiquity
Latin
siclus
“A shekel, especially in biblical and ecclesiastical usage”
Modern English
English
shekel
“A unit of currency in Israel, also used historically for an ancient weight and coin”