shroff, n.
Forms:
Also 16 sheroff, sheraffe, sheriffe, sharoffe, sherrafe, shraff, shrofe, 16–17 sheraff.(Show Less)
Etymology: Anglo-Indian corruption of saraf n.
A banker or money-changer in the East; in the Far East, a native expert employed to detect bad coin.
1618 in W. Foster Eng. Factories India 1618–21
(1906)
8
The sheraffs are poore and begerly.
1621 in W. Foster Eng. Factories India 1618–21
(1906)
265
Wee cannot put of oure ryalls but as that onely sharoffe please to take them.
1621 in W. Foster Eng. Factories India 1618–21
(1906)
352
Shrofes.
1625 S. Purchas Pilgrimes ii. 1431
Twelve Sheriffes that is men to buy and sell Pearles, Diamonds, and other pretious Stones, and to exchange Gold and Silver.
1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 52
Amongst whom were Shroffs, or Money-changers.
1776 Trial Maha Rajah Nundocomar for Forgery 22/2
It is the custom of Shroffs to get the body of the bond wrote by their Gomastahs, and they sign it with their own hands.
1816 ‘Quiz’ Grand Master ii. 18
The breakfast soon dispatch'd, they're off, To borrow money from a shroff.
1888 R. Kipling Departm. Ditties
(ed. 3)
81
Deeply indebted to the village shroff.
1904 North-China Herald 27 May 1121/3
A shroff employed by Messrs. Musterberg & Co.
1618—1904(Hide quotations)
Compounds
shroff-shop n.
1882 ‘Fan Kwae’ at Canton 58
I have heard of as much as fifty taels (about $70) being paid to an important Shroff-shop for such a transaction.
1882—1882(Hide quotations)
Derivatives
shroff v. trans. to examine (coin) in order to separate the genuine from the base; also absol.
1757 R. Clive Let. 7 July in J. Malcolm Life Robert Ld. Clive
(1836)
I. 278
I represented..that the money could not be divided till it was shroffed.
1906 Sat. Rev. 14 Apr. 451/1
The potential revenues of China are immense, but they are ‘shroffed’..by every hand through which they pass.
1757—1906(Hide quotations)
ˈshroffing n. shroffing school, a school in which the art of detecting false coin is taught.
1878 H. A. Giles Gloss. Far East 129
Shroffing schools are common in Canton, where teachers of the art keep bad dollars for the purpose of exercising their pupils.
1882 ‘Fan Kwae’ at Canton 55
The process of shroffing which it [sc. money] underwent before being deposited in the treasury.
1878—1882(Hide quotations)
ˈshroffing adj.
1860 T. L. Peacock Gryll Grange xviii
Two stock-jobbing Jews, and a shroffing Parsee.
1860—1860(Hide quotations)
Draft additions March 2016
Hong Kong English. A cashier, esp. at a car park.
1973 Sunday Post-Herald
(Hong Kong)
29 Apr. 23/3
(advt.)
Assistant cashier. Collecting shroff. A leading public company has a vacancy for a young man of integrity to work in the cash department.
1978 Hong Kong Legislative Council: Official Rep. Proc. 9 Aug. 1281
The Commissioner of Transport..is prepared to recruit about 20 disabled people to..act as shroffs in car parks.
2000 Profession
(Mod. Lang. Assoc. Amer.)
65
Here, one speaks of ‘shroffs’, which means a cashier at a parking lot.
2006 South China Morning Post
(Hong Kong)
29 July 12
It is a source of endless fascination to newcomers to Hong Kong to observe types of employment in the city rarely seen in other parts of the world. Where, away from here, would you come across a shroff, for example?
1973—2006(Hide quotations)
Draft additions March 2016
Hong Kong English. A cashier's office or payment booth, esp. at a car park.
1995 South China Sunday Morning Post
(Hong Kong)
24 Dec. (Sunday Mag.) 8/1
See you by the shroff in five minutes. We're going out.
1996 Jrnl. Managem. in Med.
(Electronic ed.)
10
A patient first queues for the shroff (cashier's office) where a fee is paid.
2005 M. Backman Inside Knowl. xxi. 225
Offices in Hong Kong that handle small payments such as parking fees in high-rise car parks are called ‘shroff offices’ or simply ‘shroffs’.
2007 S. Fallon Hong Kong
(Lonely Planet)
96
The gun..is accessible..through a door marked ‘Car Park Shroff, Marina Club & Noon Gun’.
1995—2007(Hide quotations)