receipt

American  

[ri-seet] / rɪˈsit /

noun

• receipts
  plural

1. a written acknowledgment of having received, or taken into one's possession, a specified amount of money, goods, etc.

2. receipts, the amount or quantity received.

   Economic austerity diminished the government’s tax receipts.

3. the act of receiving or the state of being received.

   We are in receipt of your letter requesting a copy of the report.

4. something that is received.

5. Slang. receipts, evidence or proof.

   There's no way he's a crook—show me the receipts!

6. Archaic. recipe.

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verb (used with object)

1. to acknowledge in writing the payment of (a bill).

   The check was dated January 9, and the invoice was receipted on January 15.

2. to give a receipt for (money, goods, etc.).

verb (used without object)

1. to give a receipt, as for money or goods.

receipt British  

/ rɪˈsiːt /

noun

1. a written acknowledgment by a receiver of money, goods, etc, that payment or delivery has been made

2. the act of receiving or fact of being received

3. (usually plural) an amount or article received

4. archaic another word for recipe

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verb

1. (tr) to acknowledge payment of (a bill), as by marking it

2. to issue a receipt for (money, goods, etc)

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonreceipt
  noun
• prereceipt
  verb (used with object)
• unreceipted
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• receipts
  plural

Etymology

Origin of receipt

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English receite, receyt, from Anglo-French, from Old French recete, reçoite, recoite or directly from Medieval Latin recepta “money received, receipt, recipe,” feminine past participle of recipere “to receive,” from Latin; see origin at receive

Explanation

You know that slim, white piece of paper the grocery store clerk gives you that lists everything you bought, how much you paid, and the change you received? That's a receipt. A receipt is proof you bought and paid for something. At most stores, you need it if you're going to return what you bought. People collect receipts on business trips, so their employers will pay them back for what they purchased while away. Less commonly, receipt can be used as a verb, as in, "The clerk receipted my purchases," meaning that the clerk gave written proof that the items were paid for.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

receipt receipts

Suggested actions will pop up automatically for certain items: Snap a snack or dish to see its nutritional value; snap a receipt to calculate how to split the bill.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

While Congress can condition a state’s receipt of federal funds on compliance with specified conditions, there are limitations to this power.

From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026

There was no receipt involved, no running lifetime total for Toasters Not Purchased.

From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026

The IMF said in its statement that it would also require "receipt of the necessary financing assurances from Senegal's partners".

From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026

Inside the card are a receipt for a yearly subscription to Feminist Monthly, a pressed violet, and a letter folded into the shape of a rabbit:

From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone

Diesel is embedded in trucking, farming and everything on a shelf, and it hits corporate margins months before it hits your receipts.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026

Bartiromo’s lawyer disputed those accounts on Friday, calling reports of her firing “absolutely and unequivocally false” and said they have the receipts to prove it.

From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2026

Jeers to airlines and hotels that make it too hard to track down receipts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

Then business leaders went for the jugular, turning in a proposed measure to repeal the city’s gross receipts business tax, which could have lost the city hundreds of millions annually in revenue.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026

I file the receipts away and sort the quotations from least expensive to most, and turn to the stack of bills.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

Related Words

• certificate
• voucher