Etymology

exchequer

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Today it means: An office of revenue taxation; a treasury. Full definition →

Middle English escheker ← Anglo-Norman escheker ← Medieval Latin scaccarium
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exchequer · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*tek-
  2. Proto-Indo-Iranian*kšáyati
  3. Proto-Iranian*xšáyati
  4. Old Persian𐏋 (XŠ)
  5. Middle Persian𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠 (mlkʾ /⁠šāh⁠/)
  6. Classical Persianشاه (šāh)
  7. Latinscaccus
  8. Medieval Latinscaccarium
  9. Anglo-Normanescheker
  10. Middle Englishescheker
  11. English todayexchequer

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.

Exchequer · proper noun2

Proprialization of exchequer.

Words from the same roots

Anglo-Normanescheker all →

checker

Medieval Latinscaccarium all →

check

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.