When the term cash was first recorded in English back in 1595, it referred to a container for holding money. It wasn’t until 1677 that it took on the meaning of “money” in a more general sense. The word originates from French caissa, which was borrowed in the early 16th century from Latin capsa, translating to “box”. This Latin root, capsa, is also the source of words like chassis, case, and capsule, all stemming from the verb capere, meaning “to seize”. The etymology can be traced back further to the Proto-Indo-European reconstruction kehp, meaning “grasp”. The verb form of cash emerged in 1811, with a brief period of usage for encash in the 1860s that faded away, contributing to the word’s increased usage in the 19th century.
