payroll
/ˈpeɪ.roʊl/
noun
Origin
English
pay + roll — Payment + register
Overview
Meaning Now
- A list of employees receiving wages, including the amounts due to each.
- The total amount of money to be paid to employees at a given time.
Literal older meaning
The act of rolling or recording payments.
Language path
Old French → Middle English → English
Earliest form
pay-roll
Earliest period
18th century
Journey
The term originated from the practice of keeping a physical paper roll or ledger of individuals employed by a company to track who had been paid and how much. It gained prevalence during the industrial period as workforces grew larger and more structured.
Evolution
- Old French
paier
“to pay, pacify”
From Latin pacare.
- Middle English
rolle
“a list, a document”
From Old French role.
- 18th century
pay-roll
“a register of names to be paid”
Compound formation of pay and roll.
Connections
Word parts
pay
root
remuneration
roll
root
list or register
Related across languages
French
payer
to pay
Explore next
Related to payroll
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.