payroll
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A list of employees and their salaries.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
payrohlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpeɪɹoʊl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A list of employees and their salaries
“The company had a long payroll.”
The total amount of money paid in wages
“The company had a large payroll.”
The department that determines the amounts of wage or salary due to each employee
A list of employees who receive salary or wages, together with the amounts due to each.
The total sum of money paid to employees.
accounting
The calculation of salaries and wages and the deduction of taxes etc.; the department in a company responsible for this.
verb
transitive
To place on a payroll (noun, sense 1).
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A list of employees and their salaries
Used this way, payroll is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“The company had a long payroll.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
List / departmentnoun
“The company had a long payroll.”
Totalnoun
“The company had a large payroll.”
More ways to use payroll
- “The company had a long payroll.”noun
- “The company had a large payroll.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A check issued in payment of wages or salary.
The department that determines the amounts of wage or salary due to each employee.
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What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.