English
exchequer
Exchequer comes from Middle English escheker ‘a chessboard’, from Medieval Latin scaccarium ‘chessboard’, from scaccus ‘check (in chess)’.
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500scaccus1‘check (in chess)’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500scaccarium1‘chessboard’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400escheker1‘chessboard’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500escheker1‘a chessboard or checkerboard’
- Englishearliest quotation 1934exchequer1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English exchequer
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1934, Ernest Bramah: “"A couple, eh, my girl?" he replied, fishing deeply…”.
Lineage
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500scaccusWiktionary, English exchequer‘check (in chess)’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500scaccariumWiktionary, English exchequer‘chessboard’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400eschekerWiktionary, English exchequer‘chessboard’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500eschekerWiktionary, English exchequer‘a chessboard or checkerboard’
- Englishearliest quotation 1934exchequerWiktionary, English exchequer. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1934, Ernest Bramah: “"A couple, eh, my girl?" he replied, fishing deeply…”
The story
This is because the cloth on which the treasurer counted money was chequered like a chessboard.
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with exchequer, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Medieval Latin scaccarium ‘chessboard’
- check ← chekken ← eschekier
through Anglo-Norman escheker ‘chessboard’
- checker ← cheker
Explore everything descended from scaccus →
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Today it means
noun An office of revenue taxation; a treasury.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “exchequer”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Medieval Latin scaccus / exchequer