# 10 Cents

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-cents/232448>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 4, 2004, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-cents/232448 "2004-03-04T02:32:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![remington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f17d59/32.png) [@remington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/remington)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-cents/232448/1 "2004-03-04T02:32:38Z")

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I was having a fairly typical conversation with a very good English friend tonight, when he asked what seemed a simple question. Why is the United States 10 cent piece, called a dime? Well, we’ve pretty much deduced all coins except that one. I’ve researched all over the web, and am unable to come up with a reasonable answer. Can you helpl? (I know that you can—I’ve just spent the last hour reading through the postings…I laughed and laughed.) Thank you.

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-cents/232448/2 "2004-03-04T02:41:46Z")

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Jefferson coined the term disme, from the French dixieme, for a tenth of a dollar. Pronounced deem, it eventually became dime.

See how easy that was? Welcome to the SDMB! 😃

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**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-cents/232448/3 "2004-03-04T02:41:53Z")

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According to [Dictionary.com](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=dime):

> [@](#):
>
> [Middle English, tenth part, from Old French disme, from Latin decima (pars), tenth (part), from decem, ten. See dek in Indo-European Roots.]

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**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-cents/232448/4 "2004-03-04T02:41:55Z")

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[quote]  
Middle English, tenth part, from Old French disme, from Latin decima (pars), tenth (part), from decem, ten. See dek in Appendix I.\* [acknowledgement](http://www.bartleby.com/61/65/D0226500.html)

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-cents/232448/5 "2004-03-04T02:44:38Z")

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WOW! A 3-way simul-post, with roughly the same information in each. Two from exactly the same source. I wish I could get that kind of response from my cable company! 😃