Cash
Cash usually refers to
money in the form of liquid
currency, such as
banknotes or
coins.
The English word
cash is a borrowing of the French
caisse, itself a borrowing of the
Provençal caissa. That Provençal word is a derivative of the
Latin capsa (box, chest), most likely by way of an unattested
Vulgar Latin form
*capsea; Spanish caja and
Portuguese caixa are their respective languages' reflexes.
This assimilated Tamil word was then applied to various other coins with which European traders came into contact, including the famous holed cash coins of
China. Called also
le or
tsien, these coins were commonly strung on cords for use in larger transactions; 1000 equalled a
tael.In
bookkeeping and
finance,
cash can also refer to
checks,
money orders,
cashier's checks,
bank drafts, or
traveler's checks. In all these forms, the term indicates the most
liquid form of
assets, which have a fixed value and can be easily converted to currency: "ready money". For example,
wages or
salaries paid as "cash" (as opposed to, e.g.,
stock options) would in most countries normally be paid with checks or direct bank deposits, which are trivially convertible to currency.
*
Cash register*
Cash and cash equivalents*
Cash flow*
Cash management*
Petty cash*
Chinese wen
