cash

Definition

Money in the form of notes or bills and coins, as opposed to checks, credit or electronic transactions.

Etymology

From late Middle French caisse (“money-box”), itself borrowed from Occitan caissa, from Latin capsa (“box”), ultimately from capiō (“take, seize”), from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“grasp”). Doublet of case, chase, and chasse. Compare Spanish caja (“box”).

Example Sentences

• "After you bounced those checks last time, they want to be paid in cash."
• "When a man bargains for the price of maintaining such or such principles, or of endeavouring to make out such or such a case, without believing in the soundness of the principles or the truth of the case; such a man, whether he touch the cash (or paper-money) before or after the performance of his work, and whether he work with his tongue or his pen, may, I think be fairly charged with seeking after "base lucre;" […]"
• "Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries […]."