Exchequer
/ˈɛks.tʃɛk.ər/noun
A government office or treasury, especially in historical British usage.
Did you know?Medieval English officials used a chequered cloth to help count money, and the name of that cloth became the name of the royal treasury itself.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*skek-
“to split, cut, or check”
Latin
Latin
scaccus
“checkered, as in a chessboard pattern”
Old French
Old French
eschequier
“a chessboard; also a counting table covered with a checkered cloth”
12th Century
Anglo-Norman
escheker
“the royal treasury or accounting office”
Middle English
English
excheker
“the treasury; the royal financial office”
Modern English
English
exchequer
“a treasury or government department responsible for public finances”