zloty

Where does the word "zloty" come from? It comes from Polish złoty, and was adopted directly into English (1920s).

Zloty’s story begins in Polish: złoty meant “gold coin.” 'golden', first used for gold ducats; the Sejm of 1496 fixed the złoty as a unit of account worth 30 groszy. It reached English by 1920s as zloty. Reintroduced as Poland's currency in Władysław Grabski's 1924 reform; a new złoty worth 10,000 old ones came in 1995. Today, zloty means the basic monetary unit of Poland.

1. Stage 1 · Polish · 1400s złoty "gold coin", 'golden', first used for gold ducats; the Sejm of 1496 fixed the złoty as a unit of account worth 30 groszy.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1920s zloty "Polish currency", reintroduced as Poland's currency in Władysław Grabski's 1924 reform; a new złoty worth 10,000 old ones came in 1995.