Ruble
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The ruble or rouble is a unit of currency. It is currently the currency unit of Belarus, Russia, and Transnistria, and was the currency unit of several other countries, notably countries influenced by Russia/the Soviet Union. One ruble is divided into 100 kopeks or copecks.
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[edit] Etymology
[edit] Origin
The word "ruble" is derived from the Russian verb рубить, rubit, i.e., to chop. Historically, "ruble" was a piece of a certain weight chopped off a silver ingot (grivna), hence the name. It was the Russian equivalent of the mark, a measurement of weight for silver and gold used in medieval western Europe.
In Russian, a folk name for "ruble", tselkovyi (целковый, wholesome), is known, which is a shortening of the "целковый рубль" ("tselkovyi ruble"), i.e. a wholesome, uncut ruble.
The word kopek, kopeck or copeck (kopeyka) derives from the Russian kop'yo (копьё) – a spear. The first kopek coins, minted by Muscovy after the capture of Novgorod in 1478, carried the Moscow coat of arms with Saint George slaying a dragon with a spear. The modern Russian kopeck also carries this image.
[edit] English spelling
Both the spellings "ruble" and "rouble" are used in English. The form "rouble" is preferred by the Oxford English Dictionary, but the earliest uses it records in English were the now completely obsolete "robble", followed by "ruble". The form "rouble" probably derives from the transliteration into French used among the Tsarist aristocracy. There is some tendency for North American authors to use "ruble" and other English speakers to use "rouble", and also some tendency for older sources to use "rouble" and more recent ones to use "ruble", but neither tendency is absolute. An accurate, but ungainly, English transliteration is rubl'.
[edit] Plurals in Russian
The Russian plurals that you may see on the actual currency will be modified according to Russian grammar. Numbers 1, 21, 31 etc. will be followed by nominative singular рубль, копейка. Numbers 2-4, 22-24, 32-34 etc. will be followed by genitive singular рубля, копейки. Numbers 5-20, 25-30, 35-40 etc. will be followed by genitive plural рублей, копеек.
[edit] Current
The following articles contain more information (list may not contain all historical rubles, especially rubles issued by sub-national entities):
- Belarusian ruble
- Russian ruble (contains information about the ruble of the Soviet time)
- Transnistrian ruble
[edit] Obsolete
es:Rubloeo:Rublo fr:Rouble he:רובל ja:ルーブル ko:루블 ro:Rublă (dezambiguizare)
