Etymograph

English

dollarwise

Dollarwise comes from German Tal ‘valley’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *dalą.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*dalą1‘valley, dale’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dal1‘valley, dale’reconstructed
  3. Old High Germanc. 750–1050tal1‘valley’
  4. Middle High Germanc. 1050–1350tal1
  5. Germanc. 1650–presentTal1‘valley’
  6. Germanc. 1650–presentTaler1
  7. Middle Low Germanc. 1200–1600dāler1
  8. Dutchc. 1500–presentdaler1
  9. English1500–presentdollar1
  10. Englishearliest quotation 2008dollarwise1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English dollarwise
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2008, New Day, Line by Budget Line: “There are far larger budget fights looming, dollarwise.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*daląWiktionary, English dollarwise‘valley, dale’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dalWiktionary, English dollarwise‘valley, dale’reconstructed
  3. Old High Germanc. 750–1050talWiktionary, English dollarwise‘valley’
  4. Middle High Germanc. 1050–1350talWiktionary, English dollarwise
  5. Germanc. 1650–presentTalWiktionary, English dollarwise‘valley’
  6. Germanc. 1650–presentTalerWiktionary, English dollarwise
  7. Middle Low Germanc. 1200–1600dālerWiktionary, English dollarwise
  8. Dutchc. 1500–presentdalerWiktionary, English dollarwise
  9. English1500–presentdollarWiktionary, English dollarwise
  10. Englishearliest quotation 2008dollarwiseWiktionary, English dollarwise. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2008, New Day, Line by Budget Line: “There are far larger budget fights looming, dollarwise.”

A compound of dollar + -wise

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’

dell, dalles, 16 more

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

dale, 16 more

through German Taler

thaler, 20 more

through English dollar

tala, dala, 15 more

Today it means

adv In terms of dollars (as opposed to percentage, or to another currency); moneywise; monetarily; financially.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “dollarwise”. 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 / dollarwise

Shirt and support for this word