exchequer

noun

ex·​che·​quer ˈeks-ˌche-kər  iks-ˈche- 

1

capitalized : a department or office of state in medieval England charged with the collection and management of the royal revenue and judicial determination of all revenue causes

2

capitalized : a former superior court having jurisdiction in England and Wales primarily over revenue matters and now merged with King's Bench

3

often capitalized

a

: the department or office of state in Great Britain and Northern Ireland charged with the receipt and care of the national revenue

b

: the national banking account of this realm

4

: treasury

especially : a national or royal treasury

5

: pecuniary resources : funds

Synonyms

• bankroll
• coffers
• finances
• fund
• pocket
• resources
• wherewithal

Examples of exchequer in a Sentence

their son would make beseeching requests for more money whenever his personal exchequer was getting low

Recent Examples on the Web

This would strengthen the economy by both saving the exchequer a whole lot of expense on imports and generating employment opportunities within India. —Mimansa Verma, Quartz, 17 Jan. 2023

And the chance of the exchequer, our treasury secretary was here recently talking to Secretary Yellen. —CBS News, 11 Sep. 2022

Those medieval monarchs laid waste to England through civil war; the modern English had done the right thing in the world wars, but their exchequer was empty, their cities were in rubble, and the empire, with the loss of India in 1947, was over. —Dominic Green, WSJ, 8 Sep. 2022

In May, when the government decided to cut the excise duty on petrol by Rs8 and on diesel by Rs6 per litre to reduce inflationary pressures, experts had estimated the cost to the exchequer would increase by Rs85,000 crore in the ongoing fiscal. —Mimansa Verma, Quartz, 4 July 2022

In October, every household will get 200 pounds ($260) off their bills to cushion the impact of rising gas prices, at a cost of around 6 billion pounds to the exchequer. —Philip Aldrick, Bloomberg.com, 28 Mar. 2022

The likely loss to the exchequer of between €2 billion to €2.4 billion is equivalent to a fifth of the State’s annual corporate tax revenue. —Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, 9 June 2021

Some 64m meals were consumed at 84,000 venues over the first nine days, at a cost of £336m to the exchequer. —The Economist, 31 Aug. 2020

The Resolution Foundation’s Torsten Bell estimates Hunt’s plan would cost the exchequer in the region of 13 billion pounds ($16.6 billion), while Johnson’s would cost about 10 billion pounds. —Washington Post, 20 Sep. 2019

Word History

Etymology

Middle English escheker, from Anglo-French, chessboard, counting table, exchequer — more at checker

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing exchequer

• chancellor of the exchequer

Kids Definition

exchequer

noun

ex·​che·​quer ˈeks-ˌchek-ər  iks-ˈchek- 

1

: a department of the British government concerned with funds to run the government

2

: money available : funds

Legal Definition

exchequer

noun

ex·​che·​quer ˈeks-ˌche-kər, iks-ˈche- 

1

capitalized : a royal office in medieval England at first responsible for the collection and management of the royal revenue and later for the adjudication of revenue cases

2

capitalized : a former superior court having law and equity jurisdiction in England and Wales over primarily revenue cases and now merged with the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice

called also Court of the Exchequer

Note: The Exchequer was created in England by the Norman kings. In addition to being divided into a court of common law and a court of equity, at one point the Exchequer also had jurisdiction over all actions, except those involving real property, between two subjects of the Crown. In 1841, the Exchequer's equity jurisdiction, except over revenue cases, was transferred to the Court of Chancery, and in 1881 the Exchequer was merged into the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice.

3

often capitalized : the office in Great Britain and Northern Ireland responsible for the collection and care of the national revenue

Etymology

Anglo-French eschecker, eschequ(i)er, from Old French eschequier royal treasury, reckoning board or cloth marked with squares, literally, chessboard, from eschec chess