Meanings
plural rupees · alternative Rs · alternative Re · alternative ₨ · alternative ₹
- Any of the monetary currencies used in modern India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, the Seychelles, or Sri Lanka.
In the fifth and sixth [standard] I obtained scholarships of rupees four and ten respectively, an achievement for which I have to thank good luck more than my merit.
1948, Mohandas K[aramchand] Gandhi, “At the High School”, in Mahadev Desai, transl., Gandhi’s Autobiography, or, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Washington, D.C.: Public Affairs Press, →OCLC; reprinted as An Autobiography; or The Story of My Experiments with Truth, New York, N.Y.: Dover Publications, 2007, →ISBN, page 124 more examples
In fact, the visible appearance of the iron is a symbol; it is not what it ultimately is. To take an analogy we are given a ten-rupee note. He knows it truly who at sight recognizes the piece of paper as a symbol of unity that represents ten separate silver coins.
1937, Rabindranath Tagore, “Lecture II: Supreme Man”, in Man: Lectures Delivered at the Andhra University under the Terms of the Sir Alladi Krishnaswamy Endowment (Andhra University Series; no. 16), Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh: Kitabistan, published 1946, →OCLC, pages 37–38There are no precise estimates available about the capital requirements of agricultural and rural development in India. But the amount required is in hundreds of thousands of crores of rupees.
1999, Katar Singh, “Financing Rural Development”, in Rural Development: Principles, Policies and Management, 2nd edition, New Delhi: SAGE Publications, published 2005, →ISBN, page 290The Seychelles rupee was allowed to depreciate in 2006 after being overvalued for years and fell by 10% in the first 9 months of 2007. Despite these actions, the Seychelles economy has struggled to maintain its gains and in 2008 suffered from food and oil price shocks, a foreign exchange shortage, high inflation, large financing gaps, and the global recession.
2013, “Strategic and Development Profiles”, in Seychelles Business Law Handbook, volumes 1 (Strategic Information and Basic Laws), Washington, D.C.: International Business Publications, →ISBN, page 15Sadhana and Sanjeev Prasad, who live in Haridwar, a city in northern Uttarakhand state, filed a petition this month seeking 50 million Indian rupees (about $643,000) in damages from their son, 35, and his wife, 31.
2022 May 17, Esha Mitra and Jessie Yeung, “Indian couple sue only son for not giving them grandchildren”, in CNN - historicalA silver coin circulating in India between the 16th and 20th centuries, weighing one tola (formerly 170–180 troy grains; from 1833, 180 troy grains).
How much do you pay for a wife? Nine rupees and a half. / Why don't you give ten? It is not our custom. / Do you ever pay a smaller sum for a wife than nine rupees and a half? Sometimes, we conclude the bargain for eight rupees.
1841 April 17, John Wilson, “Art. III.—Account of the Wáralís and Kátodís,—Two of the Forest Tribes of the Northern Konkan”, in The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, volume VII, London: John W[illiam] Parker, West Strand, →OCLC, page 192 more examples
The only Evidence that was produced by the [East India] Company, was, a letter from Samuel Annesley, at Surrat, dated the 16th January 1694; wherein he gives this Account: Rupees. 655,000. Sent home as Cargo in the Ships Defence and Resolution.
1695 March 17, “East India Stock and Debts [marginal note]”, in Journals of the House of Commons. From November the 7th 1693, in the Fifth Year of the Reign of King William and Queen Mary, to November the 3rd 1697, in the Ninth Year of the Reign of King William the Third, London: Re-printed by Order of the House of Commons, published 1803, →OCLC, page 519, column 2The roupie, as the French write it, roupee, or rupee, as it is ſpelt in our authors, is a ſilver coin, ſomething broader than one of our ſhillings, and much thicker; in point of fineneſs, it is better than the Engliſh ſtandard; for its weight is 7 dwt. 11 gr. which, reduced to our ſtandard, would be 7 dwt. 13 mt. ²⁄₂²⁄₆¹⁄₆³⁄₄.
1759, George Sale et al., “Sect. IX. An Historical Account of the French Commerce at Mocha, Bassora, Surat, on the Coast of Malabar and Coromandel; […]”, in The Modern Part of An Universal History, from the Earliest Account of Time. Compiled from Original Writers, volume XI, London: Printed for S[amuel] Richardson [et al.], →OCLC, footnote H, page 181
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe basic unit of money in Sri Lanka; equal to 100 cents
nounthe basic unit of money in Seychelles; equal to 100 cents
nounthe basic unit of money in Nepal; equal to 100 paisa
nounthe basic unit of money in Mauritius; equal to 100 cents
nounthe basic unit of money in Pakistan; equal to 100 paisa
nounthe basic unit of money in India; equal to 100 paise
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Sanskritरूप्यक“silver coin”
- Hindustani
- Englishrupee
Coined by Sher Shah Suri, the Sultan of the Suri Empire 1540–1545 as Hindustani रुपीया / رُوپِییَہ (rūpīya), variant of रुपया / رُوپَیَہ (rūpaya, “rupee”), from Sanskrit रूप्यक (rūpyaka, “silver coin”), from रूप्य (rūpya, “wrought gold or silver; stamped coin; beautiful, well-shaped; impressed, stamped”). Doublet of rufiyaa and rupiah.
More words from Hindustani, Sanskrit
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic رُوبِيَّة
- رُوبِيَّة (rūbiyya)monetary currency
Bengali টাকা, রুপিয়া
- টাকা (ṭaka)monetary currency
- রুপিয়া (rupiẏa)monetary currency
Bulgarian ру́пия
- ру́пия (rúpija)monetary currency
Catalan rúpia
- rúpiamonetary currency
Chinese Mandarin 盧比 /卢比
- 盧比 /卢比 (lúbǐ)monetary currency
Czech rupie
- rupiemonetary currency
Dutch roepie
- roepiemonetary currency
Esperanto rupio
- rupiomonetary currency
Estonian ruupia
- ruupiamonetary currency
Finnish rupia
- rupiamonetary currency
French roupie
- roupiemonetary currency
German Rupie
- Rupiemonetary currency
Greek ρουπία
- ρουπία (roupía)monetary currency
Hebrew רופי
- רופיmonetary currency
Hindi रुपया, रूप्य
- रुपया (rupyā)monetary currency
- रूप्य (rūpya)monetary currency
- रुपीया (rupīyā)monetary currency
- रूपया (rūpyā)monetary currency
- रूप्यक (rūpyak)monetary currency
- टका (ṭakā)monetary currency
- रुपैया (rupaiyā)monetary currency
Hungarian rúpia
- rúpiamonetary currency
Indonesian rupee
- rupeemonetary currency
Irish rúipí
- rúipímonetary currency
Italian rupia
- rupiamonetary currency
Japanese ルピー
- ルピー (rupī)monetary currency
Korean 루피
- 루피 (rupi)monetary currency
Lithuanian rupija
- rupijamonetary currency
Malay rupee
- rupeemonetary currency
Māori rupī
- rupīmonetary currency
Norwegian Bokmål rupi
- rupimonetary currency
Persian روپیه
- روپیه (rupiye)monetary currency
Polish rupia
- rupiamonetary currency
Portuguese rupia
- rupiamonetary currency
Punjabi ਰੁਪਈਆ
- ਰੁਪਈਆ (rupaīā)monetary currency
Romanian rupie
- rupiemonetary currency
Russian ру́пия
- ру́пия (rúpija)monetary currency
Slovak rupia
- rupiamonetary currency
Spanish rupia
- rupiamonetary currency
Swahili rupia
- rupiamonetary currency
Tagalog rupya
- rupyamonetary currency
Tamil உரூபாய், ரூபாய்
- உரூபாய் (urūpāy)monetary currency
- ரூபாய் (rūpāy)monetary currency
Thai รูปี
- รูปี (roo-bpee)monetary currency
Turkish rupi
- rupimonetary currency
Ukrainian ру́пія
- ру́пія (rúpija)monetary currency
Urdu روپیہ, روپے
- روپیہ (rupyā)monetary currency
- روپے (rupe)monetary currency
- روپیے (rūpiye)monetary currency
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with rupee
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
rupee. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rupee
“rupee.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rupee. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rupee,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rupee.
Source: rupee on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.