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payee

American  
[pay-ee] / peɪˈi /

noun

  • payees
    plural
  1. a person to whom a check, money, etc., is payable.


payee British  
/ peɪˈiː /

noun

  1. the person to whom a cheque, money order, etc, is made out

  2. a person to whom money is paid or due

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of payee

First recorded in 1750–60; pay 1 + -ee


Compare meaning

How does payee compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:


Explanation

A payee is someone who receives money. If your boss hands you your first paycheck, then you are officially a payee. Congrats. Anyone who is paid is a payee, but the term is most commonly used to mean the person (or organization) whose name is written on a check after the words "pay to the order of." If you write a check to pay your cable bill, the cable company is the payee. And if they make a billing mistake and issue you a refund check, you're the payee. Payee uses the suffix -ee, which means "recipient."

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing payee

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Sometimes foreign companies will withhold local taxes from dividends before sending them to a U.S. payee.

From Barron's ● Feb. 12, 2026

As a taxpayer, a Social Security payee, and someone who appreciates efficiency and good government, I am grateful to them.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 28, 2025

Additionally, it must disclose the specific amount or percentage of the main participant or account holder’s retirement benefits that will be paid out to the alternate payee.

From Salon ● Dec. 29, 2024

If a bank does not know the payee, it generally sends a paper check on your behalf, but the checks may have your account number and other information on them, leaving them susceptible to fraud.

From New York Times ● Jan. 7, 2024

The payee was waiting on the doorstep for us to open.

From Dross by Henry Seton Merriman

Jack also believes the fact that 137 individual payments were being made to three new payees in the space of an hour, should have raised concerns with Revolut.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2024

These systems are highly secure, particularly when they already have your payees in their system and can send an electronic payment directly to them.

From New York Times ● Jan. 7, 2024

Other warnings signs include frequent or last-minute changes of end-users or payees, or redirection of goods to third countries that have limited or no restrictions on re-exports to Russia, the department said.

From Reuters ● Apr. 23, 2023

The restitution list of 6,648 potential payees varies from about $123 million at the top to $4.90 at the bottom.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 7, 2022

In the following schedule are given the names of Loudoun payees and the amount received by each:     £ s. d.

From History and Comprehensive Description of Loudoun County, Virginia by James William Head

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