Discount

A set off, or defalcation in an action.

Contracts. An allowance made upon prompt payment in the purchase of goods; it is also the interest allowed in advancing money upon bills of exchange, or other negotiable securities due at a future time And to discount, signifies the act of buying a bill of exchange or promissory note for a less sum than that which is payable upon its face.

Among merchants, the term used when a bill of exchange is transferred, is that the bill is sold, and not that it is discounted.

This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.