The process of concealing the origins of illegally obtained money by passing it through legitimate businesses or financial systems.
From 'launder' meaning 'to wash clothes', from Old French 'lavandier'. The metaphorical use emerged in the 1920s during Prohibition, when criminals used laundromats as fronts for illegal activities, literally 'cleaning' dirty money.
Money laundering got its name because criminals literally used laundromats as front businesses - they were perfect because they handled lots of cash and their books were hard to audit. The metaphor of 'washing' dirty money clean became so perfect that it stuck even as the schemes became far more sophisticated.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.