Did you know?
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
Frank Digiacomo, Billboard, 22 Nov. 2024
Trump has also promised more tax cuts and deficit spending, which could add trillions of dollars to the national debt, forcing the government to borrow more money from bondholders.
—Bryan Mena, CNN, 22 Nov. 2024
And how an entertainment business that has gotten Hollywood to fork over tens of billions of dollars to show it on TV doesn’t recognize that is truly mind-blowing.
—Chris O'Falt, IndieWire, 22 Nov. 2024
As much as Syracuse has spent millions of dollars in a bid to establish itself as the City’s hometown football team, Manhattan and the other four boroughs are positively aswarm with Notre Dame graduates.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 22 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for dollar 
Dictionary Entries Near dollar
Cite this Entry
“Dollar.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dollar. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
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)"
Share