reserve currency

American

noun

any currency, as the U.S. dollar, used as a medium to settle international debts.

reserve currency British

noun

foreign currency that is acceptable as a medium of international payments and that is therefore held in reserve by many countries

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of reserve currency

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“The dollar typically benefits in wartime situations because it is the world’s reserve currency,” Commerzbank foreign-exchange analyst Thu Lan Nguyen said in a note.

From The Wall Street Journal

Reserve currency status refers to a currency that is held in large quantities around the world and used to conduct international trade, settle transactions and stabilize the economies of other countries.

From MarketWatch

Nonetheless, extensive capital controls in China and the country’s high household savings rate make it hard for the yuan to become a reserve currency contender unless Beijing undertakes extensive structural reforms.

From Barron's

The coming Five-Year Plan, China’s blueprint for government priorities, reprioritizes making the yuan a global reserve currency.

From Barron's

Even dollar bears aren’t calling for the end of the dollar’s reign as the world’s reserve currency.

From Barron's

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023