transaction

transaction — noun

1. A business deal between two parties where one gives money and the other provides

1.nounB1
Definition

A business deal between two parties where one gives money and the other provides goods, services, or property.

Example

Yan completed the transaction with the car dealer and drove home the same afternoon.

transaction + with + [seller] for a specific purchase

Salma paid for her new laptop in one single transaction at the online store.

Common collocations
  • make a transaction
  • complete a transaction
  • process a transaction
  • cash transaction
  • online transaction
  • business transaction
  • financial transaction
Synonyms
  • deal

    More informal; used in everyday conversation for any business arrangement or agreement.

  • purchase

    Focuses specifically on the act of buying something; narrower in scope.

  • sale

    Emphasises the seller's side of the exchange rather than the exchange itself.

Grammar Patterns

transaction + between + [parties]

transaction + with + [seller/buyer]

make/complete/process + a transaction

Usage Note

More formal than everyday alternatives such as deal or trade. Commonly paired with the verbs make, complete, process, and carry out. In business, banking, and legal contexts, transaction is the standard term.

Common Mistakes

I made a transaction of bread at the store.
I bought bread at the store.
Transaction is too formal for simple everyday purchases; use buy or purchase instead.
I did a transaction with my friend.
I made a transaction with my friend.
The verb do is not idiomatic with transaction in this sense; use make or complete.

Word family

  • transact
    verbC1
  • transactional
    adjectiveC1
  • transactor
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Transaction, deal, purchase, and sale all refer to exchanges involving money or goods, but they differ in formality and focus. Transaction is the most formal and neutral term, commonly used in banking, accounting, and legal contexts to describe the complete exchange between two parties. Deal is less formal and can describe any arrangement or agreement, not always involving money. Purchase highlights the buyer's action and is used mainly for acquiring goods; sale focuses on the seller's action of offering goods for money. For example: 'The bank processes every transaction securely.' sounds natural, while 'The bank processes every deal securely.' sounds too informal for that context.

deal ↗purchase ↗sale ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • in a single transaction
  • per transaction

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

From Latin transactio, meaning 'agreement' or 'negotiation', which came from transigere ('to drive through, accomplish, settle'). Transigere is a combination of trans- ('through, across') and agere ('to drive, do, act'). The word entered English through Middle French in the 15th century and originally referred to any completed piece of business between parties.