New Taiwan Dollar - Etymology

Etymology

The Chinese term for "New Taiwan Dollar" (新臺幣 or 新台幣, literally "New Taiwan Currency") typically is only used for banking and in legal contracts where it is necessary to avoid any possible ambiguity, or when talking about foreign exchange or other currencies.

In common usage, the dollar unit is typically referred to as yuán. In Taiwan, the character for yuán can be written in either of two forms, an informal 元 or a formal 圓, both of which are interchangeable.

Colloquial alternatives for the currency unit include the Mandarin kuài (塊), meaning "piece", and the Taiwanese Minnan kho͘ (箍 ; literally "circle").

In English usage the New Taiwan Dollar is often abbreviated as NT, NT$, NT Dollar or NTD, while the abbreviation TWD is typically used in the context of foreign exchange rates. Subdivisions of a New Taiwan Dollar are rarely used, since practically all products on the consumer market are being sold at whole dollars.

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