“ The word “draft” has come to have a wider meaning, that of a bill drawn by one person on another for a sum of money, or an order (whether on a banker or other) to pay money. The employment of cheques as a method of payment offering greater convenience than coin is almost universal in Great Britain and the United States. Of the transactions through the banks of the United Kingdom between 86 and 90% are conducted by means of cheques, and an even higher proportion in the United States. ”

“ Lat. form scaccus of the Persian shāh, king, i.e. the king in the game of chess; cf. the origin of “mate” from the Arabic shah-mat, the king is dead. The word was early used in a transferred sense of a stoppage or rebuff, and so is applied to anything which stops or hinders a matter in progress, or which controls or restrains anything, hence a token, ticket or counterfoil which serves as a means of identification, &c. ”