dolar

Dolar is the name used in several languages for the monetary unit commonly referred to in English as the dollar. Spelling varies by language: dolar in Turkish and Indonesian, dólar in Spanish, and often the symbol $ is used. The term functions as the unit of account for several national currencies that share the same name, as well as for the widely recognized U.S. dollar.

The word derives from the thaler, a silver coin minted in 16th‑century Bohemia. The thaler inspired the Dutch daalder and, through English, the modern American dollar. The United States adopted the dollar as its standard monetary unit in the Coinage Act of 1792. The dollar sign ($) is commonly believed to have originated from a stylized monogram of the letters P and S or from the peso, and it has become a global symbol for the currency.

Major currencies named dollar include the United States dollar (USD), Canadian dollar (CAD), Australian dollar (AUD), New Zealand dollar (NZD), and Singapore dollar (SGD); others include the Hong Kong dollar (HKD) and several Caribbean and Pacific island dollars. In many Spanish‑speaking contexts, the U.S. dollar is referred to as el dólar.

Most dollar currencies are decimalized, typically with 100 subunits per unit (cents). They are issued as coins and banknotes, with denominations varying by country. In global finance, the U.S. dollar plays a dominant role as a reserve currency and benchmark in international trade and finance.