exchequer
See also: Exchequer
English
Alternative forms
- exchecker (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English escheker, from Anglo-Norman escheker (“chessboard”); from Medieval Latin scaccarium. This is because the cloth on which the treasurer counted money was chequered like a chessboard.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɛksˈt͡ʃɛ.kɚ/, /ɪksˈt͡ʃɛ.kɚ/, enPR: ĕks-chĕk'-ər, iks-chĕk'-ər
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Noun
exchequer (plural exchequers)
- An office of revenue taxation; a treasury.
- An available fund of money, especially one for a specific purpose.
Derived terms
- Exchequer (“The UK government treasury department”)
- exchequer bill
- exchequership
Translations
treasury — see treasury
Verb
exchequer (third-person singular simple present exchequers, present participle exchequering, simple past and past participle exchequered)
- (transitive) To proceed against (a person) in the Court of Exchequer.