treasury
noun
ˈtrā-\
Definition of treasury
1a : a place in which stores of wealth are kept
b : the place of deposit and disbursement of collected funds especially : one where public revenues are deposited, kept, and disbursed
c : funds kept in such a depository
2 capitalized
a : a governmental department in charge of finances and especially the collection, management, and expenditure of public revenues
b : the building in which the business of such a governmental department is transacted
3 capitalized : a government security (such as a note or bill) issued by the Treasury
4 : a repository for treasures a treasury of poems
5 obsolete : treasure
Examples of treasury in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The bank’s treasury and trade solutions unit, which does back-office work for governments and companies that operate in multiple countries, grew revenue 11%. — Emily Glazer And, WSJ, "Profit Gains at JPMorgan, Citigroup Reflect a World in Growth Mode," 13 July 2018 The currency fell further on Monday after Mr. Erdogan named his son-in-law, Berat Albayrak, a former energy minister, as treasury and finance minister. — New York Times, "Erdogan Begins New Term and Names His Son-in-Law Finance Minister," 9 July 2018 Ross was accompanied by agricultural, treasury and trade officials. — Joe Mcdonald, chicagotribune.com, "U.S., China discuss American exports in bid to narrow U.S. trade deficit," 2 June 2018 Mohammad Irwan Serigar bin Abdullah, secretary-general of the Malaysian treasury and chairman of 1MDB, was also relieved of his duties. — New York Times, BostonGlobe.com, "Malaysia sidelines officials accused of ignoring graft," 15 May 2018 With the justices’ blessing, the door is now wide open for states to begin forcing online retailers to begin collecting taxes and remitting the windfall to their treasuries. — Cristian Farias, Daily Intelligencer, "Supreme Court: Forget What We Said Before About Not Having to Pay Sales Tax Online," 21 June 2018 Friedman, who worked at the State Department on human-trafficking policy during the Obama administration, also posed a threat based on the size of her campaign treasury. — James Hohmann, Washington Post, "The Daily 202: Mark Sanford’s primary loss shows the peril of crossing Trump," 13 June 2018 Kopser, 47, rebounded from a second-place finish in the March primary to a 58-42 percent victory over Mary Wilson, who raised less than one-tenth of Kopser’s $1.1 in receipts and had just $10,000 in her campaign treasury this month. — Bill Lambrecht, San Antonio Express-News, "S.A. congressional races set for November, and the money is pouring in," 23 May 2018 Russian words for money (den’gi), treasury (kazna) and customs (tamozhnia) are all of Mongol-Turkic origin, and the Mongols’ system of yam postal relay networks became the backbone of the Russian empire. — Yaroslav Trofimov, WSJ, "Russia’s Turn to Its Asian Past," 6 July 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'treasury.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for treasury
treasury
nounFinancial Definition of treasury
What It Is
Treasuries (sometimes spelled "treasurys") refer to all the tradable and negotiable debt obligations issued by a country's government. Broadly speaking, when an investor is referring to "Treasuries," he or she is referring to U.S. Treasuries.
How It Works
U.S. Treasuries can be divided into three main categories: Treasury bills (T-bills), Treasury notes (T-notes) and Treasury bonds (T-bonds) which are designated according to their lengths of maturity.
Treasury bills are short-term, zero-coupon bonds that are issued in maturities with lengths of 4, 13 or 26 weeks. Treasury notes are intermediate-term bonds issued by a federal government with maturities of 2, 3, 5 or 10 years. Treasury bonds are long-term, semi-annual coupon bonds issued by a federal government. Their maturities range from 10 to 30 years.
U.S. Treasuries are considered the safest investments in the world because the U.S. government has never defaulted on any debt it has issued. For this reason, Treasuries serve as a benchmark for the risk-free rate of return when determining the amount of expected risk for other types of assets.
Why It Matters
Treasuries are savings vehicles for governments, corporations, banks and individuals around the world. They are also an important instrument in monetary policy, because the sale and repurchase of them allows central banks to control the money supply and thus make adjustments to a nation's economy.
Treasuries are some of the world's safest investments, and therefore, have lower yields than more risky investments. They are appropriate for the most risk-averse investors who are mainly interested in preserving capital or having a steady stream of income. The rating of a nation's treasuries by credit rating agencies is an essential indicator of the financial stability of that nation.
Source: Investing Answers
treasury
noun
English Language Learners Definition of treasury
: the place where the money of a government, club, etc., is kept; also : the money itself
: a place in a church, castle, palace, etc., where money and valuable objects are kept
: a group of valuable things that are related in some way
See the full definition for treasury in the English Language Learners Dictionary
treasury
noun
\
Kids Definition of treasury
1 : a place in which money and valuable objects are kept
2 : a place where money collected is kept and paid out
3 capitalized : a government department in charge of finances
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treasury
noun
\
Legal Definition of treasury
1a : a place in which stores of wealth are kept
b : the place of deposit and disbursement of collected funds especially : one where public revenues are deposited, kept, and disbursed
c : funds kept in such a depository
2 capitalized
a : a governmental department in charge of finances and especially the collection, management, and expenditure of public revenues
b : the building in which the business of such a governmental department is transacted
3 capitalized : a government security (as a note or bill) issued by the Treasury
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