Written orders from employers to banks, telling them to pay money to an employee for work; modern payment documents.
From 'pay' (Old French 'paier', from Latin 'pacare' meaning to satisfy) plus 'check' (from Old French 'chek', a sudden stop or control). The compound word emerged in the late 19th century with modern banking and labor systems.
The paycheck is actually a pretty recent invention—before the 1800s, workers got cash directly. The paycheck system created a paper trail that let governments track income and collect taxes, revolutionizing both commerce and taxation. It's a boring piece of paper that changed everything!
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