TESSA /ˈtesə/ BrE AmE noun abbreviation for
a Tax-Exempt Special Savings Account; in the past, a special type of account with a bank or ↑ building society in the UK, in which you could save money and you did not have to pay tax on the ↑ interest you earnt if you left the money there for at least 5 years. TESSAs were replaced in 1999 by ISAs.