treasurer

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈtreʒ.ər.ə/, US /ˈtreʒ.ər.ɚ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English tresourer, borrowed from Anglo-Norman tresorer and Old French tresorier,^[2][3] from tresor (“treasure”) (see treasure),^[2][3][4] influenced by Late Latin thēsaurārius.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

One officially in charge of treasure: about 1290 in the OED; a guardian of a hoard of valuables, the late 13th century in Etymonline.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

At first a treasurer was often an official of a city, church or household,^[2] and the Lord High Treasurer of England is named from 1292;^[5] a high officer of the Crown is from the mid-14th century.^[2] Figuratively, one that stores up anything precious, it is from before 1300.^[5] A feminine tresouresse, a nun who managed the finances of her house, is from the mid-15th century.^[2] An officer of the US Treasury is the Treasurer from 1790.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1290 – a keeper of treasure.^[5]
• 1292 – Lord High Treasurer.^[5]
• mid-14th century – a Crown official.^[2]
• mid-15th century – tresouresse.^[2]
• 1790 – the US Treasurer.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A person in charge of the funds of a society, company, city or government; a chief financial officer.
2. (Australia, capitalized) The minister of finance.

Word family

• treasurership
• undertreasurer

Related words

• treasury
• treasure
• thesaurus

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press