Cashiers

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. Workers who take and process payments at stores or banks
2. People responsible for accepting money and completing sales transactions
3. Staff members who receive cash or card payments from customers

Etymology: The word is the plural of "cashier," which covers two unrelated histories that happen to share a spelling. The sense of people handling payments comes from the Dutch "cassier" or French "caissier," both derived from French "caisse," meaning a money box or chest. The person in charge of that box became the cashier. Its ultimate source is the Latin "capsa," a case or box, which is why a till and a coffer are close cousins in meaning. The other "cashier," meaning to dismiss someone from service in disgrace, is older and far more dramatic. It came from Dutch "casseren" or "kasseren," from Old French "casser," meaning to break up. Ceremonial dismissal of a ranking military officer was often marked by literally breaking his sword, so the officer's career was symbolically smashed in front of his regiment.

Synonyms: tellers, clerks