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central bank

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: centralbank

English

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WOTD – 11 January 2026

Etymology

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    The Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building in Washington, D.C., is the headquarters of the Federal Reserve, the central banking system of the United States.

    From central (adjective) +‎ bank (noun).

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    central bank (plural central banks)

    2. (banking) The principal monetary authority of a polity or monetary union, which normally implements monetary objectives by controlling interest rates, issuing currency, managing the national debt, overseeing banking and financial activities, and regulating the supply of money.
      Synonyms: national bank, (Australia, India, New Zealand, South Africa, etc.) reserve bank
      • 1930, John Maynard Keynes, “Methods of National Management—I. The Control of the Member Banks”, in A Treatise on Money […], volume II (The Applied Theory of Money), London: Macmillan and Co., […], →OCLC, book VII (The Management of Money), page 225:
        The first necessity of a Central Bank, charged with responsibility for the management of the monetary system as a whole, is to make sure that it has an unchallengeable control over the total volume of bank-money created by its Member Banks.

    Derived terms

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    Translations

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    See also

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    Further reading

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