Etymologically
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dollar

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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]
  • 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