English
dollarless
Dollarless comes from German Tal ‘valley’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *dalą.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*dalą1‘valley, dale’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dal1‘valley, dale’reconstructed
- Old High Germanc. 750–1050tal1‘valley’
- Middle High Germanc. 1050–1350tal1
- Germanc. 1650–presentTal1‘valley’
- Germanc. 1650–presentTaler1
- Middle Low Germanc. 1200–1600dāler1
- Dutchc. 1500–presentdaler1
- English1500–presentdollar1
- Englishtodaydollarless1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English dollarless
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*daląWiktionary, English dollarless‘valley, dale’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dalWiktionary, English dollarless‘valley, dale’reconstructed
- Old High Germanc. 750–1050talWiktionary, English dollarless‘valley’
- Middle High Germanc. 1050–1350talWiktionary, English dollarless
- Germanc. 1650–presentTalWiktionary, English dollarless‘valley’
- Germanc. 1650–presentTalerWiktionary, English dollarless
- Middle Low Germanc. 1200–1600dālerWiktionary, English dollarless
- Dutchc. 1500–presentdalerWiktionary, English dollarless
- English1500–presentdollarWiktionary, English dollarless
- EnglishtodaydollarlessWiktionary, English dollarless
A compound of dollar + -less
Proto-Germanic *dalą ‘valley’
…
German Joachimsthaler ‘coin of (Sankt) Joachimsthal’
German Taler ‘thaler (coin)’
Middle Low German dāler
Dutch daalder ‘thaler’
English dollar
Linked words
through Proto-Germanic *dalą ‘valley, dale’
through Proto-West Germanic *dal ‘valley, dale’
through German Taler
through English dollar
Today it means
adj Lacking money; poor.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “dollarless”. 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 / dollarless