dollar

views updated Jun 11 2018

dol·lar / ˈdälər/ • n. the basic monetary unit of the U.S., Canada, Australia, and certain countries in the Pacific, Caribbean, Southeast Asia, Africa, and South America.PHRASES: dollars to doughnuts inf. used to emphasize one's certainty: I'd bet dollars to doughnuts he's a medical student.ORIGIN: from early Flemish or Low German daler, from German T(h)aler, short for Joachimsthaler, a coin from the silver mine of Joachimsthal (‘Joachim's valley’), now Jáchymov in the Czech Republic. The term was later applied to a coin used in the Spanish-American colonies, which was also widely used in the British North American colonies at the time of the American Revolution, hence adopted as the name of the U.S. monetary unit in the late 18th cent.

dollar

views updated Jun 27 2018

dollar the basic monetary unit of the US, Canada, Australia, and certain other countries. The word comes through early Flemish or Low German from German T(h)aler, short for Joachimsthaler, a coin from the silver-mine of Joachimsthal (‘Joachim's valley’), now Jáchymov in the Czech Republic. The term was later applied to a coin used in the Spanish–American colonies, which was also widely used in the British North American colonies at the time of the American War of Independence, and was adopted as the name of the US monetary unit in the late 18th century.
dollar diplomacy the use of a country's financial power to extend its international influence.
dollars to doughnuts in North American usage, used to emphasize one's certainty.

See also almighty dollar, another day, another dollar, sixty-four thousand dollar question.

dollar

views updated Jun 27 2018

dollar German thaler; Spanish peso or piece of eight (i.e. eight reales) XVI; standard unit of coinage in U.S.A., Canada, etc. XVIII. — early Flem., LG. daler (Du. daalder) — G. taler (formerly thaler) short for Joachimst(h)aler, applied to a silver coin made from metal obtained in Joachimst(h)al (i.e. ‘Joachim's valley’) in the Erzgebirge, Czechoslovakia. The forms dolor, -er appeared XVI. dollor, -ar XVII.

Dollar

views updated May 29 2018

Dollar ★★ 1938

The actress wife of an industrialist, convinced that he is having an affair, follows him to a ski lodge in attempt to catch him in the act. In Swedish with English subtitles. 74m/B VHS . SW Georg Rydeberg, Ingrid Bergman, Kotti Chave, Tutta Rolf, Hakan Westergren, Elsa Burnett, Edvin Adolphson, Gosta Cederlund, Eric Rosen; D: Gustaf Molander.

dollar

views updated Jun 11 2018

dollar ($) Standard monetary unit of the US since 1792. It was derived from the Spanish dolar, the most widely used coin in the American colonies. Divided into a hundred cents, the value of the US dollar was based on the gold price until 1934. Many other countries have adopted the dollar as their currency.