CASH

'Cash' usually refers to money in the form of liquid currency, such as banknotes or coins.

Contents

Etymology

Historical usage in Asia

Bookkeeping and finance

References

See also

Etymology

The English word ''cash'' is of the French '','' itself a borrowing of the Provençal ''caissa.'' That Provençal word is a derivative of the Latin '' (box, chest), most likely by way of an unattested Vulgar Latin form ''
★ capsea;'' Spanish '' and Portuguese '' are their respective languages' reflexes.^[1]
[2]
From the original sense of a box or a chest, the word came to refer to a sum of money such as was or might be contained in one, and eventually to specie or, with the elimination of metallic standards, banknotes.¹ In this sense, it is used in contrast to credit or other financial instruments.
The word "cash" can also be traced back to: Sanskrit ''karsa'', a weight of gold or silver but akin to Old Persian ''karsha''-, a weight. a unit of value equivalent to one cash coin.

Historical usage in Asia

The word was formerly used also to refer to certain low-value coins used in South and East Asia. This sense derives from the Tamil ''kāsu,'' a South Indian monetary unit. The early European representations of this Tamil word, including Portuguese ''caxa'' and English ''cass,'' merged the existing words ''caixa'' and ''cash,'' which had similar connections with money. In the pre-1818 South Indian monetary system, the cash was the basic coin, with 80 cash equalling a ''fanam'' and 42 fanams equalling a ''star pagoda'' worth roughly 7''s.'' 8''d.''^[3]
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, the Chinese cash. Also called ''wén'', these coins were commonly strung on cords for use in larger transactions; 1000 equalled a tael.³

Bookkeeping and finance

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.

References

1.
2.
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See also

★ Cash register

★ Cash and cash equivalents

★ Cash flow

★ Cash counter

★ Cash management

★ Petty cash

★ Chinese cash

★ List of English words of Persian origin