bankroll

Etymology

It is a compound from English bank + roll,^[2][3][4][5] from bank in its financial sense and roll, a roll of banknotes.^[3][2] The verb is a conversion of the noun.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A roll of banknotes: 1849, in Graham's Magazine.^[2][4] Etymonline and the Merriam-Webster Collegiate date the noun to 1887,^[3][6] and Dictionary.com to 1885–90.^[5]

Semantic evolution

From the physical roll of notes the noun was extended to the money a person has, funds or financial resources, and in gambling to the sum a player sets aside for betting.^[2][4] The verb, to provide the money for a project or a person, is first recorded in 1915, in the Boston Daily Globe,^[2] while Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates it to 1926 and Etymonline, the Merriam-Webster Collegiate and Dalzell to 1928.^[4][3][6][7] Green's Dictionary of Slang treats it as originally American slang, with a 1929 quotation from J. Lait's Broadway Melody about pooling money to finance the film, and quotations for the backing of ventures legal or otherwise into the 21st century.^[8]

Timeline

• 1849 – a roll of banknotes; later, funds or financial resources.^[2][4]
• 1915 – verb, to finance a project or person.^[2] Green's Dictionary of Slang's first record of the verb is from 1929.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A roll of banknotes.^[9][2]
2. The money a person or group has available; funds: Rising rents had made a hole in the club's bankroll.^[4][9][2]
3. (gambling) The sum a player sets aside for betting.^[2]

Verb

1. To provide the money for a business, project or person; to finance or underwrite: A local firm bankrolled the new theatre.^[9][4][2][8]

Word family

• bankroller

Related words

• bank
• roll
• banknote

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Dalzell, Tom; Victor, Terry, eds. (2013), The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 2nd ed., London: Routledge
8. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
9. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin