Cash

How to spell cash

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce cash

What does cash mean?

1. nounMoney in the form of coins and banknotes, rather than cheques or cards.
2. verbTo exchange a cheque or other instrument for money.

Cash in a sentence

• noun

  The market stall only accepts cash, so bring some notes.

• verb

  He went to the bank to cash his pay cheque before the weekend.

• noun

  She withdrew enough cash from the machine to cover the rent.

• verb

  You can cash the gift voucher at any branch in the city.

Where does cash come from?

Language of origin: French

Cash entered English in the late 1500s from the Old French casse, meaning a box or chest, which in turn came from the Latin capsa, a case or container for holding things. The earliest English sense was not the money itself but the box in which coins were kept, much like a modern till or strongbox. Over time the meaning slid from the container to its valuable contents, so that by the 1600s cash meant ready coin and physical money on hand. The same Latin capsa lies behind the everyday words case and capsule, all sharing the idea of an enclosing container. Because cash sounds exactly like cache (a hidden store), the two are easily confused in writing, even though cache also traces back through French to the idea of hiding away.

How the word is built

• cash (money, from Old French casse: a money box)
• no affix

Words that sound like cash

They sound the same but mean different things, so the meaning decides which spelling to write.

• cache: A hidden or secure store of items, supplies, or valuables kept for later use.