tenge

1 of 2

noun (1)

ˈteŋ-ˌgā 

plural tenge

: the basic monetary unit of Kazakhstan see Money Table

tenge

2 of 2

noun (2)

ˈteŋ-gā 

less common variant of tenne

: a monetary subunit of the manat (Turkmenistan) see manat at Money Table

Examples of tenge in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The total cost, including the furniture, was about 27 million Kazakhstani tenge ($51,500). — Tim McKeough, New York Times, 14 Jan. 2025

His charge was to establish a currency board to stabilize its tenge. — Shawn Tully, Fortune, 8 Oct. 2022

Kazakhstan has imposed exchange controls after the tenge, its currency, fell by 20 percent in the wake of the Western sanctions against Moscow; Tajikistan’s somoni has undergone a similarly steep depreciation. — Nicholas Mulder, Foreign Affairs, 22 Mar. 2022

Energy-rich Kazakhstan, which exports two-thirds of its oil supplies through Russian ports, is reeling from the international sanctions regime and burning through vital currency reserves to prop up its faltering national currency, the tenge. — Time, 11 Mar. 2022

Citizens grew immediately incensed after prices essentially doubled overnight to approximately 100 tenge, or 22 cents, per liter. — Brigid Kennedy, The Week, 8 Jan. 2022

The price cap for LPG announced by the government Thursday is 75 tenge (17 cents) per liter; at the start of the year, the average price was about 120 tenge (27 cents). — Jim Heintz, Anchorage Daily News, 6 Jan. 2022

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Kazakh, "coin, ruble," going back to Chagatai (Turkic language of early modern Central Asia) täŋgä "unit of money," borrowed from Persian tanga "gold or copper coin" — more at tanga

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1992, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for tenge

• avenge
• revenge