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In the mountains of Bohemia is the small town of Jáchymov. In the early 16th century, the town was known by its German name, Sankt Joachimstal. At that time, a silver mine was opened nearby, and coins were minted to which the name joachimstaler was applied. In German this was shortened to Taler. Shortly afterward the Dutch or Low German form daler was borrowed into English to refer to the Taler and other coins that were patterned after it, such as the Spanish peso, which circulated widely in Britain’s North American colonies. Our modern word dollar is a different spelling of this daler. When the newly independent American colonies settled on an official monetary unit in 1785, they chose the name dollar.
Examples of dollar in a Sentence
Bob Haber, Forbes, 19 Mar. 2025
Induction stoves typically need special wiring or a larger plug, adding hundreds of dollars in electrical work to the cost of the appliance itself.
—Jeff Brady, NPR, 19 Mar. 2025
With that, capital controls would be removed, and the U.S. dollar would become the coin of the realm.
—Guy Petcho, National Review, 19 Mar. 2025
The results fell a few million dollars short of the consensus of five Wall Street analysts who continue to publish estimates on Endeavor’s business, while the per-share net income of $1.70 came in short of expectations by 39 cents, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
—Brendan Coffey, Sportico.com, 19 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dollar
Cite this Entry
“Dollar.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dollar. Accessed 23 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
dollar
noun
from Dutch daler "silver coin formerly used in Germany," from German Taler (same meaning), shortened from Joachimstaler "a coin made in Sankt Joachimsthal (Saint Joachim's Valley) in Bohemia (a former kingdom in Europe)"
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