receipt

1 of 2

noun

re·​ceipt ri-ˈsēt 

plural receipts

1

a

: a writing acknowledging the receiving of goods or money

b

receipts plural, informal : proof, evidence

… he is on the hook right now for some pretty major charges that Mueller has the receipts for …

—Asha Rangappa

However, it was just a few weeks earlier that the reality star was crushing on another lovely lady … and we've got the receipts to prove it! HollywoodLife has text messages between the two …

—Sarah Jones

2

: the act or process of receiving

3

: something received

—usually used in plural

4

: recipe

5

a

obsolete : receptacle

b

archaic : a revenue office

receipt

2 of 2

verb

receipted; receipting; receipts

transitive verb

1

: to give a receipt for or acknowledge the receipt of

2

: to mark as paid

Did you know?

The History of Receipt and Recipe

These days it may seem odd to speak of "grandma's cookie receipt," but in the past, receipt was a synonym of recipe. Early use of receipt refers to medicinal preparations. Recipe didn't arrive until the 1500s, and it too was first used to describe a formula for medicine. In time, both words gained use in cookery, after which recipe slowly became the preferred word. Receipt later acquired its more familiar sense of "a writing acknowledging the receiving of goods or money." Both words, receipt and recipe, ultimately derive from Latin recipere ("to receive").

Examples of receipt in a Sentence

Noun

Keep your receipt in case you need to return anything.

The form should be completed and returned within 30 days of receipt.

Open immediately upon receipt of the package.

Our company deposits cash receipts every day.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The association will also have a booth in front of the OB Mall where shoppers can submit receipts of $50 or more spent at Ocean Beach businesses for a chance to win gift cards. —Carlos Rico, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Nov. 2023

Yanai’s sobering pitch is that Japan’s economy is teetering on a precipice because of an unhealthy obsession with manufacturing, workers conditioned to corporate bloat, and a budget financed by soaring debt rather than tax receipts. —Time, 13 Nov. 2023

And in August, a 21-year-old Virginia man named Anthony Benton was sentenced to 16 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to production and receipt of child pornography. —Ej Dickson, Rolling Stone, 9 Nov. 2023

The announcement helped Toyota's American depositary receipts rise more than 4% in early trading. —River Davis, WSJ, 1 Nov. 2023

As most tips are cashless, just sign the receipt and add your tip amount on the line provided. —Scott Laird, Condé Nast Traveler, 26 Oct. 2023

In these cases, the standard deduction can help reduce your taxable income, despite not having a stack of receipts. —E. Napoletano, wsj.com, 14 Nov. 2023

Those include her sister's passport with a Costa Rican customs stamp dated May 18, a receipt for plastic surgery, a Walmart debit card and a list of potential defense attorneys. —Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 11 Nov. 2023

When The Real Housewives of Potomac returned for its eighth season on Sunday, the women were still reeling from the revelation earlier this year that a woman came forward with a hotel room receipt that Juan had signed. —Eric Andersson, Peoplemag, 6 Nov. 2023

Verb

The rebate is available through a website where customers must upload a photo of the UPC and receipt for a purchase made between May 17 and May 31. —Leada Gore | [e-mail], al, 26 Jan. 2023

Real estate tax bill or receipt for the current year or the previous year. —Tamia Fowlkes, Journal Sentinel, 14 Mar. 2023

Failure to properly document employee bonuses and stipends, and Failure to properly receipt and deposit money collected on behalf of the school. —al, 6 Oct. 2022

Since the company’s American depository receipts trade in New York, there’s also the threat of expensive class-action suits. —Andy Mukherjee | Bloomberg, Washington Post, 22 Oct. 2019

Ground transportation for Vice President Mike Pence's stay at President Donald Trump's Doonbeg, Ireland, resort cost taxpayers nearly $600,000, according to State Department receipts. —Allan Smith, NBC News, 11 Sep. 2019

The state’s supplemental operating budget increases that receipt authority, though the governor has not yet signed that budget. —James Brooks, Anchorage Daily News, 13 June 2019

Last year, Beijing wanted to lure Chinese tech companies to list in the mainland by issuing Chinese depository receipts dubbed CDR, akin to the ADRs and GDRs used to facilitate global companies in New York and London. —Jacky Wong, WSJ, 3 Apr. 2019

Fred Trump then used the padded All County receipts to justify bigger rent increases for thousands of tenants. —Matthew Yglesias, Vox, 3 Oct. 2018

See More

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English receite, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin recepta, probably from Latin, neuter plural of receptus, past participle of recipere to receive

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 4

Verb

1787, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing receipt

• be in receipt of

• be in receipt of

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!

Kids Definition

receipt

1 of 2 noun

re·​ceipt ri-ˈsēt 

1

: recipe sense 2

2

: the act or process of receiving

3

: something received

—usually used in plural

4

: a written statement saying that money or goods have been received

receipt

2 of 2 verb

1

: to give a receipt for

2

: to mark as paid

receipt a bill

Legal Definition

receipt

noun

re·​ceipt ri-ˈsēt 

1

: the act, process, or fact of taking possession

2

: something (as income) received

—usually used in pl.

3

: a writing acknowledging the receiving of goods or money