gjaldmiðli

Gjaldmiðill is the Icelandic term for money that a country designates as legal tender. It denotes the currency as a unit of account, a medium of exchange, and a store of value used in pricing, wages, debt, and everyday transactions. The word is formal and commonly used in economics, law, and banking.

Etymology and usage: Gjaldmiðill is composed of gjald, meaning payment or charge, and miðill, meaning intermediary or medium. In Icelandic, it can refer to a country’s currency as a whole or to the monetary system of an economy. It is distinct from more concrete terms for physical money, such as mynt (coins) and seðill (banknotes).

Scope and examples: In Iceland, the gjaldmiðill is the króna (ISK). In other countries, the gjaldmiðill would be the euro, the dollar, the yen, and so on. Currencies are typically fiat, issued by central banks, and not backed by physical commodities. Central banks manage the supply of the gjaldmiðill, influence exchange rates, and conduct monetary policy to achieve economic objectives.

See also: Monetary policy, currency, banknote, coin.