billon

May. 8th, 2012 07:28 am
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billon (BIL-uhn) - n., an alloy of a precious metal with a larger amount of a less valuable metal.


Such as a little silver in a lot of copper, which is often used for coins of a small denomination. Borrowed in the 1720s from French, debased metal, originally ingot, from Middle French bille, log (cognate of billet) + -on, a noun suffix.

---L.

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