词源 |
shekel n."chief silver coin of the ancient Hebrews," early 13c., sicle, via Old French, Latin (siclus) and Greek (siklos), from Hebrew sheqel, from shaqal "he weighed." The coin was first issued c. 141 B.C.E. and so called for its weight, which seems to have been the original sense of sheqel; the unit of weight is from the Babylonian system, picked up by the Hebrews and Phoenicians, equal to 0ne-sixtieth of a mina. The modern form in English dates from mid-16c. As slang for "money," it is attested by 1871. updated on August 21, 2022 |