encaisser

Encaisser is a French verb with several related senses centered on money and reception, and a figurative usage involving endurance. The primary meaning is to convert something into cash or to receive money, as in cashing a check, a bill, or a payment. It is also used more broadly to mean accepting money from sales or deposits, or to collect receipts. In everyday speech, it can also mean to bear or endure something, most commonly the phrase encaisser le coup, meaning to take a blow or to withstand an impact; figuratively, to bear losses or criticisms, as in encaisser des pertes or encaisser des critiques.

Etymology traces back to caisse, meaning a cash box or the cash register, with the prefix en- giving the sense of putting into a caisse or receiving money. The verb belongs to the regular -er class in French conjugation and follows standard patterns for spelling and endings.

Usage and examples: Encaisser is used with objects such as un chèque, un billet, or un paiement, for instance: elle a encaissé un chèque ce matin. It is also common in financial reporting to say a company a encaissé des recettes or des pertes, and in physical sense to say quelqu’un a encassé le coup. The related noun encaissement refers to the act of cashing in or the amount collected.

Conjugation highlights: present tense j’encaisse, tu encaisses, il encaisse, nous encaissons, vous encaissez, ils encaissent; passé composé j’ai encaissé; imperfect j’encais sais/ j’encais sais? (j’encais sais is incorrect; correct form j’encais sais). The past participle is encaissé; future j’encaisserai; conditional j’encaisserais.

See also: caisse, encaissement, caissier.