Etymograph

English

dollar

Dollar comes from Dutch daalder, from German Taler, short for Joachimsthaler (a coin of Joachimsthal ‘Joachim’s valley’), from Tal ‘valley’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *dalą ‘valley’.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*dalą1‘valley’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dal1‘valley’reconstructed
  3. Old High Germanc. 750–1050tal1‘valley’
  4. Middle High Germanc. 1050–1350tal1
  5. Germanc. 1650–presentTal1‘valley’
  6. Germanc. 1650–presentJoachimsthaler1‘coin of (Sankt) Joachimsthal’
  7. Germanc. 1650–presentTaler1‘thaler (coin)’
  8. Middle Low Germanc. 1200–1600dāler1
  9. Dutchc. 1500–presentdaalder1‘thaler’
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1952dollar1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English dollar
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1952, Brigadier Sir Harry Mackeson, House of Commons: “The restricted purchase of dollar tobacco will, we hope,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*daląWiktionary, English dollar‘valley’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dalWiktionary, English dollar‘valley’reconstructed
  3. Old High Germanc. 750–1050talWiktionary, English dollar‘valley’
  4. Middle High Germanc. 1050–1350talWiktionary, English dollar
  5. Germanc. 1650–presentTalWiktionary, English dollar‘valley’
  6. Germanc. 1650–presentJoachimsthalerWiktionary, English dollar‘coin of (Sankt) Joachimsthal’
  7. Germanc. 1650–presentTalerWiktionary, English dollar‘thaler (coin)’
  8. Middle Low Germanc. 1200–1600dālerWiktionary, English dollar
  9. Dutchc. 1500–presentdaalderWiktionary, English dollar‘thaler’
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1952dollarWiktionary, English dollar. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1952, Brigadier Sir Harry Mackeson, House of Commons: “The restricted purchase of dollar tobacco will, we hope,…”

The story

Attested since the mid-16th century, from early Dutch daler, daalder, from German Taler, Thaler (‘dollar’), earlier Joachimsthaler, literally “of Joachimstal”, the town where the original dollars were minted. The name means “(Saint) Joachim's valley”, from Joachim + Tal. Possibly reinforced by the Dutch leeuwendaalder, which was also used in the American colonies.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

pairs

  • dollar and dale both from Proto-Germanic *dalą ‘valley’

through Proto-Germanic *dalą ‘valley, dale’

dell, dalles, 16 more

through Proto-West Germanic *dal ‘valley, dale’

16 more

through German Taler

thaler, 20 more

through Dutch daler

tala, 16 more

Today it means

noun Official designation for currency in some parts of the world, including Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and elsewhere. Its symbol is $.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “dollar”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *dalą / dollar

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