Teller

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈtɛlə/

Definitions

1. A bank employee who manages customer deposits and withdrawals ; an individual who tells or relates a story or event
2. Someone working at a financial institution responsible for handling money transactions ; a person who recounts stories or narrates events
3. An employee at a bank who directly assists customers with their cash transactions ; a narrator who conveys stories or shares accounts

Etymology: The most striking thing about "teller" is that its two senses, the one who narrates and the one who handles cash, come from the same activity: counting. The Middle English "tellere" meant one who counts or enumerates, and only later stretched to cover one who recounts or relates a story. The verb "tell" carried that sense of reckoning for a long time, so a teller was originally a counter before being a storyteller. The banking sense follows the same thread. A bank teller is someone who counts out money for customers, and the word kept its original meaning of tallying in that setting. Both uses share the root "tell" with the -er suffix that marks a person who performs the action.

Synonyms: narrator, storyteller, accountant, bank clerk, cashier

Antonyms: listener, audience, receiver, client, customer