$

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Character  $ 
Unicode name DOLLAR SIGN
Codepoint U+0024
# ← Basic Latin → %

Contents

Translingual [edit]

Etymology [edit]

$ appears to have evolved ca 1775 in the United States from a common abbreviation for pesos, also known as piastres or pieces of eight, a P–raised S ligature PS that passed through a stage resembling ֆ.[1] It was used in the US before the adoption of the dollar in 1785.[2]

Noun [edit]

$

  1. (used everywhere except in the Philippines) Abbreviation of peso.
  2. Abbreviation of dollar.

Derived terms [edit]

  • (small form variant)

Letter [edit]

$

  1. (figuratively) A substitute for the letter S or a space or hyphen used as a symbol of (perceived) greedy business practices
    for example: "Micro$oft Window$"
  2. (programming) used to indicate a variable
  3. (computer science) (parsers, regexes) end of input token

Usage notes [edit]

The symbol precedes the number it qualifies, despite being pronounced second (in English). For example, “$1” is read as “one dollar” not “dollar one”.

See also [edit]

Currency signs

  • ¤ – generic currency sign
  • ؋ – afghani
  • ฿ – baht
  • ¢ – cent
  • – colón
  • – cedi
  • $ – dollar
  • – dong
  • – euro
  • ƒ – florin (also called guilder and gulden)
  • – guarani
  • – hryvnia
  • – kip
  • – lira (in Turkey)
  • – mill
  • – naira
  • – peso
  • £ – pound
  • – riyal
  • – riel
  • ރ – rufiyaa

Formerly used currency signs

  • – austral
  • – ECU (European Currency Unit)
  • – cruzeiro
  • – drachma
  • – franc
  • – lira
  • – Livres Tournois
  • – mark
  • – peseta
  • – pfennig
  • – spesmilo


References [edit]

  1. ^ A history of mathematical notations, Florian Cajori, 1993
  2. ^ US Bureau of Engraving and Printing