dollar

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. See Table at currency.
2. n. A coin or note worth one dollar.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The English name of the large silver German coin called thaler: also applied to similar coins of the Low Countries and of Scandinavia; to the large silver coin of Spain, the celebrated “Spanish dollar,” or peso, also called pillar dollar (from its figure of the Pillars of Hercules) and piece of eight (as containing 8 reals); and later to a large silver coin succeeding the Spanish dollar in Spanish America.
2. n. The monetary unit or standard of value of the United States and Canada, containing 100 cents, and equal to about 4s. 1⅓d. English. In the United States it is represented in the currency by gold and silver coins and by notes; in Canada by notes only. A two-dollar gold coin is current in Newfoundland. This unit was established in the United States under the confederation of the States, by resolution of Congress, July 6th, 1787. It was represented by a silver piece, the coinage of which was authorized by the act of Congress, August 8th, 1786, by which was also established the decimal system of coinage. The coinage was not begun until two years after the law of April 2d, 1792, establishing the mint. That law provided for the coinage of “dollars or units, each to be of the value of a Spanish milled dollar,” as that coin was then current, and to contain 371¼ grains of pure silver, or 416 grains of standard silver. The Spanish dollar above mentioned was that struck in Spanish America. Spanish-American dollars, and coins representing halves, quarters, eighths, and sixteenths of them (the last two known as shillings and sixpences in New York and some other States, and by other names elsewhere), were abundant in the United States during the latter part of the eighteenth and the first half of the nineteenth century. The Spanish dollar coined in Spain was rare, but the intrinsic value of the two coins was the same. By an act of January 18th, 1837, the dollar was made to consist of 412½ grains fine, the quantity of pure silver remaining the same, 371¼ grains. This dollar, being worth in market value from 100 to 104 cents, went out of circulation. An act of March 3d, 1849, directed the coinage of gold dollars of 25.8 grains fine, 23.22 being pure gold; and by act of February 12th, 1873, this was declared the unit of value of the United States. An act of February 28th, 1878, directed the Secretary of the Treasury to purchase silver bullion, not less than $2,000,000 nor more than $4,000,000 per month, and cause it to be coined into standard silver dollars. The coins representing fractional parts of the dollar are: in silver, the half-dollar and quarter-dollar, or 50-cent and 25-cent pieces, and the dime or 10-cent piece; in nickel, the half-dime or 5-cent piece (originally in silver, and inconveniently small); and in bronze, the cent (originally in copper, and much larger) and the 2-cent piece. There is also a 3-cent piece, originally coined in silver and afterward in nickel, which has been little used owing to its inconvenient smallness in both forms. By the term dollar in the United States notes is intended the coined dollar of the United States, a certain quantity in weight and fineness of gold or silver, authenticated as such by the stamp of the government. Sometimes abbreviated dol., but commonly represented by the symbol $ (the dollar-mark) before the number.

Wiktionary

1. n. Official designation for currency in some parts of the world, including Canada, Australia, the United States, Hong Kong, and elsewhere. Its symbol is $.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A silver coin of the United States containing 371.25 grains of silver and 41.25 grains of alloy, that is, having a total weight of 412.5 grains.
2. n. A gold coin of the United States containing 23.22 grains of gold and 2.58 grains of alloy, that is, having a total weight of 25.8 grains, nine-tenths fine. It is no longer coined.
3. n. A coin of the same general weight and value as the United States silver dollar, though differing slightly in different countries, formerly current in Mexico, Canada, parts of South America, also in Spain, and several other European countries.
4. n. The value of a dollar; the unit of currency, differing in value in different countries, commonly employed in the United States and a number of other countries, including Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, parts of the Carribbean, Liberia, and several others.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a United States coin worth one dollar
2. n. a symbol of commercialism or greed
3. n. a piece of paper money worth one dollar
4. n. the basic monetary unit in many countries; equal to 100 cents