conscience money
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Money paid anony- mously to Government by persons who have defrauded the revenue, or who have under- stated their income to the income-tax assessors. The sum is advertised in the Gazette.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “conscience money” mean?
Money paid anony- mously to Government by persons who have defrauded the revenue, or who have under- stated their income to the income-tax assessors. The sum is advertised in the Gazette.
Is “conscience money” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.