peso
nounUK /ˈpeɪsəʊ/ · Philippines /ˈpɛso/
Etymology Borrowed from Spanish peso.
1
Historical A former unit of currency in Spain and Spain's colonies, worth 8 reales; the Spanish dollar.
2
The circulating currency of various Spanish-speaking American countries (Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Uruguay) and the Philippines.
- The value of the peso has plummeted 858% against the US dollar over the past five years as the central bank printed more of the currency to help the country’s spendthrift government avoid defaulting on its debts. […] To dollarize its economy, Argentina would need to exchange all pesos held by its people and businesses for US dollars, and assign a dollar value to all of its assets and contracts.2023 October 23, Anna Cooban, “Javier Milei wants Argentina to swap the peso for the US dollar. Here’s what that could mean”, in CNN Business:
- Synonyms
- adarme, Spanish dollar
- Derived terms
- pesoization, pesoize, peso ley, South Pacific peso
- Related terms
- avoirdupois, pansy, pensive, poise