franc

noun \ ˈfraŋk \

|Updated on: 14 Jun 2018

Definition of franc

1 : any of various former basic monetary units (as in Belgium, France, and Luxembourg)

2 the basic monetary unit of Switzerland and a number of especially sub-Saharan nations in Africa — see Money Table

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Recent Examples of franc from the Web

In the 1990s, a French court fined him one franc for neglecting to cite objective evidence that might have refuted his opinion on the Armenian killings in an article for the newspaper Le Monde.

— douglas martin, BostonGlobe.com, "Bernard Lewis, 101, influential scholar of Islam," 22 May 2018
The Circle, a billion–Swiss franc retail–and–medical tourism complex, is slated for completion in 2019.

— adam h. graham, Condé Nast Traveler, "Plan a Trip to Zurich This Summer (Yes, Really)," 2 May 2018
Without warning, the SNB abandoned the euro-franc floor on Jan. 15, 2015.

— brian blackstone, WSJ, "How Switzerland Lost a Currency Battle, but Won the War," 20 Apr. 2018
As a nod to Taeuber-Arp’s legacy, the Swiss government redesigned the 50 franc note in 1995 to include her portrait.

— National Geographic, "Beyond Picasso: 6 Female Artists Who Turned Modern Art On Its Head," 19 Apr. 2018
Switzerland has become the first country to hold a referendum on basic income at a national level; in 2015, the Swiss Parliament will vote on whether to extend a basic income of 2,500 Swiss francs (about $2,600) per month to every Swiss resident.

— betsy isaacson, Newsweek, "How to Fix Poverty: Write Every Family a Basic Income Check," 14 Dec. 2014
And the ruble is not on the radar of currency traders, the way that, say, the British pound or Swiss franc is.

— neil irwin, BostonGlobe.com, "Should Trump be annoyed about Russian, Chinese currencies?," 17 Apr. 2018
In 2015, after losing a bet of more than a hundred and fifty million dollars on the Swiss franc, Novogratz and his colleagues made the second of two huge bets that Brazilian interest rates would fall.

— rachel aviv, The New Yorker, "A Sidelined Wall Street Legend Bets on Bitcoin," 10 Apr. 2018
The Bank of Japan’s effort to boost its economy by keeping the yen cheap has made the currency a better value than the Swiss franc, another safe haven, Mr. Van Luu said.

— daniel kruger, WSJ, "Safe Haven Assets Are Moving Strangely: Why That Should Worry Investors," 30 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'franc.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of franc

French

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

FRANC Defined for English Language Learners

franc

noun

Definition of franc for English Language Learners

: a basic unit of money that is used in some countries where French is spoken and that was formerly used in France, Luxembourg, and Belgium; also : a coin or bill representing one franc