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dollar

Etymology and origin of the English word dollar

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Formation
Borrowing
Borrowed from
Low German daler

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈdɑ.lɚ/; /ˈdɒl.ə/, /ˈdɔː.lə/ (UK)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Low German daler,[2][3][4][5][6] from German Taler (later Thaler),[2][3][5] short for Joachimstaler,[2][3][4][5] a coin first minted in 1519 from the silver of a mine at Joachimsthal (now Jáchymov) in Bohemia.[2][4][5] German Tal “valley” is cognate with English dale.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The English name for the German thaler, a large silver coin of varying value (1553).[7][3][4][5] The spelling dollar had replaced daler by 1600.[5]

Semantic evolution

By 1581 English used the word for the Spanish peso or piece of eight,[7][4][5] the coin most familiar in the American colonies.[5][4] On Thomas Jefferson's suggestion the Continental Congress adopted the dollar as the unit of the United States currency;[4][5] Barnhart dates this to 1785 and Etymonline to 1786.[4][5] The OED records the American sense from 1782.[7] The name has since been taken up by many other countries.[2][6]

Timeline

  • 1553 – the German thaler.[7][3][4]
  • 1581 – the Spanish peso or piece of eight.[7][4]
  • 1782 – the standard unit of United States currency.[7]
  • 1882 – various foreign coins of similar value.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The basic monetary unit of the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and many other countries, equal to 100 cents.
  2. A coin or note worth one dollar.
  3. Money obtained from a particular source.
  4. (historical) The thaler, or a coin modelled on it such as the Spanish peso.
  • thaler
  • dale

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Dollar.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/dollar. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·