Phrase guide

Treasury bill

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A government obligation, sold at a discount, maturing in one year or less, and pay no interest prior to maturity.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: business, finance

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a short-term obligation that is not interest-bearing (it is purchased at a discount); can be traded on a discount basis for 91 days

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: T-bill

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: Treasury, Treasury obligations

History

Etymology

From Treasury (“the US Treasury”) + bill.

Across languages

Translations

5 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 國庫券 /国库券 (guókùquàn) — short-term government obligation
  • Czech: pokladniční poukázka — short-term government obligation
  • Danish: skatkammerbevis — short-term government obligation
  • Finnish: valtion lyhytaikainen velkakirja — short-term government obligation
  • Irish: bille státchiste — short-term government obligation