Origin Dictionary / OD-001
Money
A number in your account can buy dinner. A number in your notes app cannot.
01Dictionary Meaning
Money is something widely accepted for payments, used to express prices and debts, and held to carry purchasing power into the future.
02What People Think
"Money is the cash I have."
03What’s Underneath
A bank balance works because shops accept payments from it and institutions settle those payments. A banknote works because the next person expects someone else to accept it.
Most everyday money is therefore more than an object. It sits inside arrangements for recording claims, moving balances and maintaining trust. Those arrangements can work well even when nobody at the checkout thinks about them.
Acceptance makes the number useful. Prices determine how useful.
04The Game
Who makes a balance spendable, and what happens when trust in that balance or its purchasing power changes?
05One Line
Money works because the next person expects it to work.
Explore M1 Library
M1Youth Finance
Follow the systems behind everyday payments.
References 1
- What is money?
Bank of England