Meaning of 美金
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- American dollar; US dollar
How to use 美金
美金 is a common, slightly informal word for US dollars, often heard in everyday speech and in Taiwan and Hong Kong. 美元 (měiyuán) is the more standard term used in banking, news, and official exchange rates. Example: 这个包要两百美金。(Zhège bāo yào liǎng bǎi měijīn.) This bag costs two hundred US dollars.
美 (měi) is short for 美国 (Měiguó), America, and 金 (jīn) means gold or money. So 美金 is simply "American money," the US dollar.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes read 美 here as "beautiful," as in 美丽 (měilì), and guess the word means "beautiful gold." In 美金 and 美元, 美 refers to America. Also keep the tones straight: third tone měi, then first tone jīn.
美金 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
美 měi · beautiful · 9 strokes
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金 jīn · gold · 8 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 美金.
Questions about 美金
What does 美金 mean?
美金 (měijīn) means "American dollar; US dollar" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 美金?
美金 is made of 2 characters: 美 (9 strokes), 金 (8 strokes). That is 17 strokes in total.
Is 美金 an HSK word?
Yes. 美金 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 美金 and 美元?
They mean the same thing, the US dollar. 美元 (měiyuán) is more formal and is what you see on exchange boards and in news reports. 美金 sounds more colloquial.
How do I say other currencies in a similar way?
Chinese often uses the country's short name plus 元 (yuán), such as 日元 (rìyuán) for Japanese yen and 欧元 (ōuyuán) for the euro. The Chinese currency is 人民币 (rénmínbì).