giro account

6.8

An account at a post office or bank that people use to send and receive money

noun

: cuenta de giro

She opened a giro account at the post office for her everyday transactions.

Examples

Money is transferred directly into his giro account every month.
Many people in Europe use a giro account instead of a traditional bank account.
I opened a giro account at the local post office.
Do you have a giro account in Spain?
Many people in Europe use a giro account instead of a traditional bank account.
Money is transferred directly into his giro account every month.
She opened a giro account at the post office for her everyday transactions.

Synonyms

account

vsgiro account

∞ 2.1

A record of money received and paid by a person or business

is specifically a payments and deposits arrangement used mainly in Europe

bank account

vsgiro account

168 1.5

A service from a bank to keep and use your money

is a payment and deposit arrangement used mainly in some European countries

deposit account

vsgiro account

2 3.9

A bank account where you leave money for a fixed time and often cannot take it out without notice

is focused on payments and regular deposits rather than fixed-term storage

Surface Forms

giro account singular

giro accounts plural

Morphology

giro + account

This is a straightforward noun+noun composition: 'giro' (a method of transferring money) + 'account' (a record or facility for monetary transactions), so the meaning 'an account used for giro payments/deposits' follows directly from the constituents. The compositional logic is cross-linguistically common for financial terms, so a learner who knows both words should be able to infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Giro account may come from the word giro, which in Italian means a 'turn' or 'circle'. The idea of money moving in a circle describes an old system for sending payments between accounts, often through the post office, so a Giro account became a simple account used to pay and receive money.