passbook

English

Etymology

pass +‎ book

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

passbook (plural passbooks)

1. (banking) A customer's record of deposits and withdrawals from a savings account at a bank, typically recorded in a small booklet. The bank keeps its own record, which is final in any dispute.
2. (dated) A book that passes between a trader and a customer, used to record credit purchases.
   • 1878, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons, Parliamentary Papers, volume 26, page 254:

     Mr Campbell Swinston.—Supposing there were no stronger reason than that against the continuance of grocers' licences, could not that evil be very easily put an end to by making a single false entry in the passbook the ground for forfeiting the grocer's certificate?

3. (South Africa, historical) A kind of internal passport used during apartheid to limit the movements of citizens outside of their homelands or designated areas.

Translations

booklet used to record bank transactions — see bankbook

Further reading

• passbook on Wikipedia.Wikipedia