What does cashier mean?
A cashier is most familiarly the person behind the counter of a shop, restaurant, or bank who receives payments, gives change, and handles the till. The word carries no particular connotation beyond ordinary working life, though automated checkouts have made the role increasingly symbolic of retail service. In its rarer verb form, to cashier means to dismiss someone — typically a military officer — from their position in a dishonourable way, as when a court-martial cashiered the officer for misconduct. This striking double life comes from a shared root: both senses trace back through French to Latin capsa, a box, since money was once kept in a case or cashbox. A related practical term is the cashier's cheque, a payment guaranteed by a bank rather than an individual. Whether describing a job at the checkout or a humiliating dismissal, cashier remains a precise, useful English word.
A person whose job is to receive and pay out money in a shop, bank, or other business.
"The cashier handed me my receipt along with the change."
To dismiss someone from a position, especially a military officer, in a dishonourable manner.
"He was cashiered from the army following the corruption scandal."
Regular plural, used when referring to multiple people holding this occupation.
"The bank was short-staffed because two cashiers had called in sick."
The same word that takes your money at the till can also take your commission — cashiering an officer is one of the most formal ways the military can throw you out.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cashier
Cashier derives from Middle French caissier, meaning a keeper of the cashbox, formed on caisse (a box or chest), which itself came from Latin capsa, a box or container. The noun entered English in the late sixteenth century with the sense of a person entrusted with handling money, especially in banking. The verb sense, meaning to dismiss an officer in disgrace, arose separately in the seventeenth century from the idea of casting someone out, likely influenced by Dutch kasseren, itself borrowed from French casser, to break or annul. Cognate forms appear across Romance languages, such as French caissier and Spanish cajero.
Related word forms
How cashier is actually used
The noun sense is everyday and neutral; in British English a bank employee who handles transactions is often called a cashier. The verb sense is formal and chiefly British, used almost exclusively of military officers dismissed with disgrace.
Easily confused with cashier
'Casheir' is not an English word — 'cashier' is the only correct spelling for both senses.