Rather than wasting your time with the OED, try consulting some business
(bookkeeping, accounting) historical sources.  The "Double Entry" system of
bookkeeping which the original post described (employing "To" and "By") was
the most common system used in colonial and early 19th century America.  The
system is most fully explained in an 18th century business textbook,
"Book-Keeping Methodized: or A Methodical Treatise of Merchant-Accounts
According to the Italian Form" by John Mair (1795).
 
David Rotenstein
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David S. Rotenstein, Ph.D., RPA
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
WWW: http://www.city-net.com/~davidsr/crm.htm
E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
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