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   exchequer

   /ɪksˈtʃɛkə/

   noun

   • 1. a royal or national treasury: "an important source of revenue to the sultan's exchequer"
   • ▪ the account at the Bank of England in which is held the Consolidated Fund, into which tax receipts and other public monies are paid: "each of the protesters will be liable to a fixed fine, which could raise £200m for the Exchequer"
   • ▪ the former government office responsible for collecting revenue and making payments on behalf of the sovereign, auditing official accounts, and trying legal cases relating to revenue.

   Word Origin Middle English: from Old French eschequier, from medieval Latin scaccarium ‘chessboard’, from scaccus (see check1). The original sense was ‘chessboard’. Current senses derive from the Norman department of state dealing with the royal revenues, named Exchequer from the chequered tablecloth on which accounts were kept by means of counters. The spelling was influenced by Latin ex- ‘out’ (see ex1). Compare with chequer.

   Scrabble Points: 30

   • E

     1

   • X

     8

   • C

     3

   • H

     4

   • E

     1

   • Q

     10

   • U

     1

   • E

     1

   • R

     1

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