Countinghouse

/ˈkaʊntɪŋhaʊs/ noun

Definition

A building or office where business accounts, finances, and money are managed and recorded; an accounting office.

Etymology

From counting + house. A Middle English term from mercantile culture referring to the offices where merchants and traders kept records and managed their finances.

Kelly Says

Famous in literature—Charles Dickens used countinghouses in his stories as places of stern, serious business where clerks like Bob Cratchit worked, and it represents the beginning of modern corporate office culture.

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