n. 1 Brit. the former government department in charge of national revenue. °Its functions now belong to the Treasury, although the name formally survives, esp. in the title Chancellor of the Exchequer. 2 a royal or national treasury. 3 the money of a private individual or group.
[ ME f. AF escheker, OF eschequier f. med.L scaccarium chessboard (its orig. sense, with ref. to keeping accounts on a chequered cloth) ]