Definition of: dollar

(dol′ər) noun
1. The standard monetary unit of the United States and of various other countries which use the $ sign for their coinage, as Canada and Argentina. Specifically, a U.S. silver coin, of the legal value of 100 cents, authorized in 1792 by Congress.
2. A U.S. gold piece, coined 1849–90.
3. A U.S. legal tender note, either a greenback or a silver certificate.
4. The Spanish milled dollar (first coined 1728) or piece–of–eight, the metallic basis of the monetary system in the British American colonies, from which the American dollar was taken.
5. A loose term for the German thaler, the peso, the Haitian gourde, and other coins. [<earlier daler <LG <G taler, thaler, contraction of Joachimstaler money of Joachimstal, Bohemian city where first coined]
—Hong Kong dollar, British dollar, Straits Settlements dollar
Coins issued by the British for use in parts of the Commonwealth.
—Levant dollar or Maria Theresa dollar
A silver coin issued for trade purposes by Austria since 1780.
—trade dollar
A U.S. special silver dollar, heavier than normal and of special composition, used in Oriental trade, 1885–87.