Jump To:

• treasury
  treasury

  noun

  a place where the funds of the government, of a corporation, or the like are deposited, kept, and disbursed.
• Treasury
  Treasury

  noun

  (in various countries) the government department in charge of finance. In Britain the Treasury is also responsible for economic strategy

treasury

American  

[trezh-uh-ree] / ˈtrɛʒ ə ri /

noun

• treasuries
  plural

1. a place where the funds of the government, of a corporation, or the like are deposited, kept, and disbursed.

2. funds or revenue of a government, public or private corporation, etc.

3. (initial capital letter) the department of government that has control over the collection, management, and disbursement of the public revenue.

4. a building, room, chest, or other place for the preservation of treasure or valuable objects.

5. a collection or supply of excellent or highly prized writings, works of art, etc..

   a treasury of American poetry.

6. Informal. Treasuries, Treasury bills, bonds, and notes.

---

treasury ¹ British  

/ ˈtrɛʒərɪ /

noun

1. a storage place for treasure

2. the revenues or funds of a government, private organization, or individual

3. a place where funds are kept and disbursed

4. Also: treasure house.  a collection or source of valuable items

   a treasury of information

---

Treasury ² British  

/ ˈtrɛʒərɪ /

noun

1. (in various countries) the government department in charge of finance. In Britain the Treasury is also responsible for economic strategy

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• treasuries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of treasury

1250–1300; Middle English tresorie < Old French. See treasure, -y ³

Explanation

A treasury is a kind of bank — it's a place where money and other valuable things are kept, or where a country keeps its wealth. You might guess that a treasury is a place to keep your treasure, and you'd be right. Originally, the word literally meant "room for treasure," from the Old French tresor, "hoard or treasure." Starting in the late 1300s, it also meant "department that controls public revenue," which remains the most common use of treasury today. The U.S. even has an official Department of the Treasury, the part of the executive branch that prints money and collects taxes.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

treasury Treasury treasuries

Both the 2028 Games and those future events will help fill Pasadena hotels, restaurants and shops, bolstering the local economy and adding tax dollars to the city treasury, according to supporters of the plan.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026

Jamie Dimon — long considered a potential candidate to be treasury secretary, and the person in charge of one of the nation’s primary dealers of Treasury securities — says he wouldn’t buy American debt.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026

There may be some surprise at Benn's exit from government as he had just started talks with the Stormont parties and treasury officials in a bid to agree a multi-year budget after months of stalemate.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

He is expected to name a centrist Labour lawmaker, Shabana Mahmood, as his treasury chief, a move also aimed at calming investor jitters.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

George Pullman continued to cut jobs and wages without reducing rents, even though his company’s treasury was flush with over $60 million in cash.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Bond markets soured to rising oil prices as hopes for a U.S.-Iran deal over Hormuz faded, and Treasury yields rose.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

"What we're asking for is an open and honest discussion with Treasury and the government about the state of our finances because we believe there is a systemic flaw in the way we are funded."

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

Treasury bonds, this approach seems less than intuitive.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026

The yield on the policy-sensitive two-year Treasury fell 0.019 percentage point to 4.217%.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

Diploma in hand, Elizebeth returned to her ordinary routines as the top code breaker at the Treasury Department and the Coast Guard.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield

Investors haven’t seen stocks and treasuries move more in sync in nearly 30 years.

From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026

Over the last year, banks and other financial services firms have made it easier for small investors to buy crypto — exchange traded funds and firms that have constructed themselves as crypto treasuries have proliferated.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 28, 2025

What we’re seeing now is like a silent IPO: early, oversized holders distributing to a much broader base of buyers who came in through ETFs, brokerages and corporate treasuries.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 17, 2025

Skeptics have been anticipating the pullback, given that crypto treasuries often trade at a premium to the underlying value of the tokens they hold.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 9, 2025

The shafts ran down by many slopes and spiral stairs to caverns far under; there Saruman had treasuries, store-houses, armouries, smithies, and great furnaces.

From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien

Related Words

• bank
• coffer
• exchequer