Voucher

How to spell voucher

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce voucher

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does voucher mean?

1. nounA printed or electronic token that can be exchanged for goods, services, or a discount.
2. nounA document that serves as proof a payment has been made or money is owed.

Voucher in a sentence

• The gift voucher covered most of the dinner bill.

• The accountant filed every voucher to support the expense claim.

• Each customer received a discount voucher at the till.

• Keep the voucher as evidence that the invoice was settled.

Where does voucher come from?

Language of origin: French

The word grew out of the verb 'vouch', which English took from the Old French 'voucher', meaning 'to summon' or 'to call to defend a claim'. That French verb traces back to the Latin 'vocare', meaning 'to call', the same root that gives us 'vocal', 'invoke', and 'advocate'. In medieval law a person could 'vouch' someone to warrant or guarantee a title, so the noun 'voucher' originally meant a person or, later, a written document that vouched for, confirmed, or backed up a transaction. By the seventeenth century it had settled into its accounting sense of a paper proving that money had been paid or was owed, and from there it broadened to the modern token you exchange for goods or services. The 'ou' spelling and the soft 'ch' both come straight from the French source, which is why the word looks less phonetic than its plain 'vouch for it' meaning suggests.

How the word is built

• vouch (from Latin vocare: to call, summon)
• -er (noun suffix forming a thing that does the action)