dollar

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dɔ.laʁ/^[1]

Forms

dollar m (plural dollars)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from English dollar, the American English name of the monetary unit of the United States.^{[2][3][4][1][5]} English had earlier used “daller”, “doller” in the 16th century for the thaler, from Low German daler (1553), the equivalent of German Taler, a silver coin first struck in 1519.^[2][3][6]

In the North American colonies the English word came to name the Spanish peso (1650), and in 1785 the Continental Congress adopted the dollar as the unit of the United States.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Courrier de l'Europe (1776) reports that a hundredweight costs only five dollars in Boston.^[2] Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF date it from 1773, the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert from 1730.^[4][7][6][8]

Semantic evolution

On its own the word means the United States dollar, and in France it suggests the “greenback” and American money; the dollar canadien is named in 1853, and in Quebec it is familiarly called piastre.^[3][8] The power of the American currency produced eurodollar (1962, from English) and pétrodollar (1974).^[3]

Timeline

• 1730 – First record, according to the Grand Robert.^[6]
• 1773 – Record cited by Bloch and Wartburg.^[4]
• 1776 – Five dollars in Boston, Courrier de l'Europe.^[2]
• 1853 – Dollar canadien.^[3][8]
• 1962 – Eurodollar.^[3]
• 1974 – Pétrodollar.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The dollar, the monetary unit of the United States: payer en dollars.^[8][1]
2. The monetary unit of some other countries: dollar canadien, dollar australien.^[8][1]

Related words

• thaler
• eurodollar
• pétrodollar

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 18, 52b
6. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert