Where does “paycheck” come from?
Paycheck derives from English pay and English chequer, ultimately from Latin scaccus, a chessboard used as a counting device, combined with Latin -arius to denote an agent or instrument.
paycheck (English): Money received on payday as payment for work...
Definitions
- Money received on payday as payment for work...
Ancestry of “paycheck”, step by step
paycheck traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English check
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | check | A situation in which the king is directly... |
| 2 | English | chequer | The edible fruit of the wild service tree,... |
| 3 | Old French | eschequier | exchequer |
| 4 | Medieval Latin | scaccarium | chess board; chessboard; exchequer |
| 5 | Vulgar Latin | scaccus | chess |
| 6 | Arabic | شَاه | king in chess; king; king or check at chess, shah |
| 7 | Persian | شاه | king; shah; king; Something that is the biggest... |
| 8 | Middle Persian | 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠 | king |
| 9 | Old Persian | 𐏋 | king |
| 10 | Proto-Iranian | xšáyati | — |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-Iranian | kšáyati | he rules, he has power over |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | teḱ- | to sire, beget |
via English pay
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | pay | To give money or other compensation to in... |
| 2 | Middle English | payen | pagan |
| 3 | Old French | paiier | to pay |
| 4 | Medieval Latin | pacare | to settle, satisfy; present active infinitive of... |
| 5 | Latin | pācāre | — |
| 6 | Latin | pāx | peace |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | pāks | peace |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | péh₂ḱ-s | peace |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | peh₂ḱ- | to join, to attach; agreement, settlement |