The biblical root פ.ק.ד

has several meanings: visiting, counting, remembering, commanding and even punishing. In Modern Hebrew, this root appears in words like מפקד – commander

and לתפקד – to function

.

What do all of those biblical meanings have in common? They all require that the person doing the action pay attention to the recipient of the action.

Thus the word for a security deposit – פיקדון

– makes sense, since it represents money entrusted to another person or institution, who will hopefully take good care of it.

For example:

תמסרו לי עכשיו פיקדון, והרכב יהיה שלכם עוד היום.

Give me a deposit now, and the car will be yours already today.