Cashier

Cashier. (1) (Adapted from the Fr. caissier, one in charge of the caisse, or money-box), one who has charge of the payment or receiving of money in a business house. The “cashier” may be a high executive official of a banking or mercantile house—thus the name of chief cashier of the Bank of England appears on all notes issued during his occupation of the post—or he may be merely a clerk, who receives payment for goods sold, and has the right to give receipts for the same.

(2) (In origin ultimately the same as “quash,” to annul, from Lat. quassare, to dash or break to pieces, a frequentative of quatere, to shake, but also connected in form and meaning with cassare, to make, cassus, empty or void), a military term, meaning originally to disband, and probably adopted from the Dutch in the 16th century. The word in various forms is used in the same sense in most European languages. It is now used in English for the dismissal of a commissioned officer from the army and navy for particularly serious offences, in the words of the Army Act, 1881, s. 16, for “behaving in a scandalous manner unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.” “Cashiering” involves not merely the loss of the commission, but also a permanent disqualification from serving the state in any capacity.

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