Editing Cheque (section)

== Spelling and etymology ==
''Check'' is the original spelling in the [[English language]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Conrad |first=Jordan |date=22 July 2016 |title=Cheque vs. Check: What's the Difference? |url=https://writingexplained.org/cheque-vs-check-difference |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160725205407/https://writingexplained.org/cheque-vs-check-difference |archive-date=25 July 2016 |access-date=17 May 2022 |work=Writing Explained}}</ref><ref name="Ellinger">{{cite book |last=Ellinger |first=Peter |url={{GBurl|yItGQiYl4F0C|page=26}} |title=International Encyclopedia of Comparative Law |date=August 1981 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-90-286-0291-5 |editor-last=Ziegel |editor-first=Jacob S. |volume=IX: Commercial Transactions and Institutions |page=26 |chapter=Chapter 4: Negotiable Instruments |quote=It would appear that the modern spelling, ''viz.'' cheque came into use at about 1828, when the switch was made by ''Gilbart'', Practical Treatise on Banking (London 1828) 14. ''Holden'' 209 points out that ''Chitty'', On Bills of Exchange, used the old spelling, ''viz.'' check, until ed. 10 in 1859. The adherence to "check" in the United States is a commendable manifestation of independent conservativism.}}</ref> The newer spelling, ''cheque'' (from the [[French language|French]]), is believed to have come into use around 1828, when the switch was made by [[James William Gilbart]] in his ''Practical Treatise on Banking''.<ref name="Ellinger" /> The spellings ''check'', ''checque'', and ''cheque'' were used interchangeably from the 17th century until the 20th century.<ref name="OED">{{cite web |title=Cheque, check |url=http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50037719?single=1&query_type=word&queryword=cheque&first=1&max_to_show=10 |work=Oxford English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2009|location=London|page=350}}</ref> However, since the 19th century, in the [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] and Ireland, the spelling ''cheque'' (from the French word ''chèque'') has become standard for the financial instrument, while ''check'' is used only for other meanings, thus distinguishing the two definitions in writing.{{refn|[[James William Gilbart]] in 1828 explains in a footnote 'Most writers spell it ''check''. I have adopted the above form because it is free from ambiguity and is analogous to the [[exchequer|ex-''chequer'']], the royal treasury. It is also used by the [[Bank of England]] "Cheque Office"'.<ref name="Gilbart">{{cite book |last=Gilbart |first=James William |author-link=James William Gilbart |title=A practical treatise on Banking, containing an account of the London and County Banks ... a view of Joint Stock Banks, and the Branch Banks of the Bank of England, etc |edition=2nd |year=1828 |publisher=E. Wilson |location=London |page=115}}</ref>|group="nb"}}

In [[American and British English spelling differences|American English]], the usual spelling for both is ''check''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cheque |title=Definition of cheque |work=Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary |access-date=29 July 2015}}</ref>

Etymological dictionaries attribute the financial meaning of ''check'' to come from "a check against forgery", with the use of "check" to mean "control" stemming from the [[check (chess)|''check'' used in chess]], a term which came into English through French, Latin, Arabic, and ultimately from the Persian word ''[[shah]]'', or "[[king (chess)|king]]".<ref name="Harper">{{cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=check&allowed_in_frame=0 |title=check (n. 1) |last=Harper |first=Douglas |work=Online Etymology Dictionary |access-date=19 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130309194101/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=check&allowed_in_frame=0|archive-date=9 March 2013|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Dictionary.com">{{cite web |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/check|title=check|work=Dictionary.com Unabridged |publisher=Random House |access-date=19 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140402070621/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/check |archive-date=2 April 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>