plural birr
: the basic monetary unit of Ethiopia see Money Table

Examples of birr in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Bekele said helped narrow the previously significant gap between the official and parallel exchange rates of the birr, which had caused economic disruptions in the market. Samuel Getachew, semafor.com, 4 Sep. 2025 Every Ethiopian birr or Kenyan shilling spent servicing expensive debt is money that is not available to build and staff health clinics, train teachers and equip schools, and improve agricultural productivity as the region adapts to harsher weather. Mark Suzman, Foreign Affairs, 11 July 2024 His oldest brother, Hailu, gave her a $10 Ethiopian birr, with which Ibssa was able to start his journey toward education. Acsah Lemma, Sacramento Bee, 13 June 2024 After many arguments and beatings, each migrant agreed to pay the ninety thousand birr. Ed Caesar, The New Yorker, 6 Nov. 2023 The birr trades at about 99 per dollar, compared with the official rate of 53.5. Karl Lester M Yap, Bloomberg.com, 12 Feb. 2023 In the past four years the value of birr has dwindled by 126% against the dollar. Hawi Dadhi, Quartz, 5 July 2022 Broad money supply has been increasing by 20% annually according to the National Bank of Ethiopia over the last 15 years and skyrocketed from 104.4 billion Ethiopian birr to almost 1 trillion birr this year. Samuel Getachew, Quartz Africa, 14 Sep. 2020

Word History

Etymology

Amharic bərr, literally, silver

First Known Use

1976, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of birr was in 1976

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Birr.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/birr. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.

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