le virement

Definition & meaning

Virement is a masculine noun meaning a transfer, most commonly a bank transfer: moving money from one bank account to another. It can also refer more generally to the transfer of funds between accounts in bookkeeping.

Grammar & Word origin

• Gender: masculine — un virement
• Plural: virements
• Word parts: virer (“to turn” or “to change direction”) + -ment, a suffix used to form nouns.
• The word’s general sense is an act of turning or redirecting; in finance, it came to mean redirecting money from one account to another.

Synonyms & antonyms

• transfert ↗ — “transfer”; broader than virement, since it can refer to moving many kinds of things, not just money.
• versement ↗ — a payment or deposit; it emphasizes paying or depositing money, rather than transferring it between accounts.
• prélèvement ↗ — a direct debit taken from an account. It is a contrast rather than a strict antonym: a virement is initiated to send money, while a prélèvement is collected from an account.

Common phrases & collocations

• faire un virement ↗ — to make a transfer
• virement bancaire ↗ — bank transfer
• virement de compte à compte ↗ — transfer from one account to another
• virement permanent ↗ — standing order or recurring bank transfer