Cashless

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. A financial system that operates without reliance on physical money uses digital payments for transactions
2. An economic model where monetary transactions are facilitated through electronic means, eliminating the use of cash
3. Characterized by transactions carried out without the use of tangible money, relying instead on electronic payment methods

Etymology: "Cashless" is about as transparent as English compounds get: "cash" plus the suffix "-less," meaning "without." The suffix traces back through Old English "-lēas," which was itself a form of the word "lēas," meaning "free from" or "lacking," and it has been attached to nouns throughout the language's history to build words like "hopeless" and "careless." The base word "cash" is the more interesting half. It arrived in English from French "caisse," meaning a box or money chest, and that box sense is why cash originally referred to a container for valuables before it came to mean the money inside. Put the two parts together and "cashless" literally describes a state of having no money in the box.

Synonyms: digital, non-cash

Antonyms: cash-based, cash