caja

Caja is a term with several meanings in Spanish and in different professional contexts. In Spanish, caja literally means box or container, and it is used in other senses such as a cash box, a cash register, or a physical container in various settings. The word also appears in technical and institutional names, reflecting its broad usefulness.

In finance and commerce, caja commonly refers to a savings bank or savings institution (for example, caja de ahorros) and to cash-handling devices such as a caja registradora (cash register). In many Spanish-speaking countries, cajas de ahorro were historically reorganized as banks, and the term persists in everyday usage to denote cash handling and in the names of financial entities.

In computing, Caja is the file manager for the MATE desktop environment. It is a fork of Nautilus redesigned for the MATE interface, offering features such as folder browsing, search, and integration with the desktop environment.

In music, caja denotes a percussion instrument, typically a snare drum, used in many Latin American genres. The caja is struck with sticks or hands and is often part of ensembles with other percussion instruments; the term also appears in related instrument names such as the cajón, a box-shaped drum.

The meaning of caja varies by region and field, and the context determines whether it refers to a container, a financial institution, software, or a musical instrument.