student asking question

Just curious, what's the origin of the currency "dollar?" Where does the name come from?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

The word dollar actually comes from the early German word "Thaler," a silver coin in the Roman Empire in the 16th century. The root word for "thaler" in German is "thal," meaning valley. So a "thaler" is a person or thing from the valley. Ex: The price is one thaler. Ex: The word "dollar" is the anglicized version of the German word "thaler."

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