Meanings
plural finances
- countableuncountableThe management of money and other assets.
And statesmen as well ought to know these things; for a state is often as much in want of money and of such devices for obtaining it as a household, or even more so; hence some public men devote themselves entirely to finance.
4th century BCE, Aristotle, Politics, volume book I, part XI; republished as John Alexander Smith, William David Ross, transl., The works of Aristotle translated into English, volume 10, 19081 more example
Finance is seldom romantic. But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close. This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms. Those that want to borrow are matched with those that want to lend.
2013 June 1, “End of the peer show”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 71 - countableuncountableThe science of management of money and other assets.
- countableuncountableThe provision of a loan, payment instalment terms, or similar arrangement, to enable a customer to purchase an item without paying the full amount straight away.
Finance on all our new cars is provided by ABC Loans Ltd.
present singular third person finances · participle present financing · participle past financed · past financed
- intransitiveobsoleteTo pay ransom.
- transitiveTo manage financially; be financier for; provide or obtain funding for a transaction or undertaking.
His parents financed his college education.
4 more examples
He financed his home purchase through a local credit union.
Therefore, when assets are examined together with other problems, such as one-sided contracts or delays in payment, the argument for financing construction projects is substantially weakened.
1995, A. D. F. Price, Financing International Projects, page 32000, G. Colombo, Sanctions and remedies in cases of illegal financing of political parties, Trading in Influence and the Illegal Financing of Political Parties, Third European Conference of Specialised Services in the Fight against Corruption, page 64, Indeed, it is a crime to finance or make contributions in any form to political parties, their factions, parliamentary groups, i.e. members of the Italian parliament (if they are Italian) and the European parliament, regional, provincial and town councillors, candidates in such offices, party leaders: […] .
This is not a historical novel yet it is in a sense historical and contained within this book is a true story of how America was financed.
2011, Thomas W. Dombroski, How America Was Financed, page xiSynonyms: fund, capitalize
- obsoletetransitiveTo extort ransom from.
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo manage financially; be financier for; provide or obtain funding for a transaction or undertaking.
Origin
- Latinfīnis
- Middle Frenchfinance
- Middle Englishfinaunce
- Englishfinance
From Middle English finaunce, fynaunce, from Anglo-Norman, Middle French finance, from finer (“to pay ransom”) (whence also English fine (“to pay a penalty”)), from fin (“end”), from Latin fīnis. Original English sense that appeared c. 1400 was “ending”. The sense of “ending or satisfying a debt” originated from French influence: in the sense of “ransom” appeared in the mid 15th century, in the sense of “taxation” appeared in the late 15th century. In the sense of “manage money” first recorded c. 1770.
More words from Middle English, Middle French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic تَمْوِيل, مَالِيَّة
- تَمْوِيل (tamwīl)management of money and other assets
- مَالِيَّة (māliyya)management of money and other assets
- مَوَّل (mawwal)management of money and other assets
- مَال (māl)management of money and other assets
- مَوَّل (mawwal)to obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
Bulgarian фина́нси, фина́нси
- фина́нси (finánsi)management of money and other assets
- фина́нси (finánsi)science of management of money and other assets
- фина́нси (finánsi)monetary resources
- финанси́рам (finansíram)to obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
Catalan finances, finançar
- financesmanagement of money and other assets
- finançarto obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
Chinese Mandarin 財政 /财政, 金融
- 財政 /财政 (cáizhèng)management of money and other assets
- 金融 (jīnróng)management of money and other assets
- 撥款 /拨款 (bōkuǎn)to obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
- 融資 /融资 (róngzī)to obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
Czech finance, financovat
- financemanagement of money and other assets
- financovatto obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
Danish finanser, finansiere
- finansermanagement of money and other assets
- finansiereto obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
Dutch financiën, financiën
- financiënmanagement of money and other assets
- financiënscience of management of money and other assets
- financiënmonetary resources
- financierento obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
Esperanto financoj, monaj aferoj
- financojmanagement of money and other assets
- monaj aferojmanagement of money and other assets
- financito obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
- monsubtenito obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
Estonian rahandus
- rahandusmanagement of money and other assets
Finnish rahoitus, varainhoito
- rahoitusmanagement of money and other assets
- varainhoitomanagement of money and other assets
- rahoitusscience of management of money and other assets
- rahoitusoppiscience of management of money and other assets
- finanssioppiscience of management of money and other assets
- varatmonetary resources
- rahavaratmonetary resources
- rahoittaato obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
French finance, finance
- financemanagement of money and other assets
- financescience of management of money and other assets
- financerto obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
German Finanz, Finanzen
- Finanzmanagement of money and other assets
- Finanzenmanagement of money and other assets
- Geldwesenmanagement of money and other assets
- Finanzwissenschaftscience of management of money and other assets
- Geldwissenschaftscience of management of money and other assets
- Geldwesenscience of management of money and other assets
- Finanzenmonetary resources
- finanzierento obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
Greek χρηματοοικονομικά, χρηματοοικονομικά
- χρηματοοικονομικά (chrimatooikonomiká)management of money and other assets
- χρηματοοικονομικά (chrimatooikonomiká)monetary resources
- χρηματοδοτώ (chrimatodotó)to obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
Hebrew כְּסָפִים, כְּסָפִים
- כְּסָפִים (ksafím)management of money and other assets
- כְּסָפִים (ksafím)science of management of money and other assets
- מימון (mimún)monetary resources
- כספים (ksafím)monetary resources
- הון (hon)monetary resources
- מימןto obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
Hindi वित्त
- वित्त (vitt)management of money and other assets
Hungarian pénzügyek
- pénzügyekmanagement of money and other assets
Icelandic fjármál, efnahagur
- fjármálmanagement of money and other assets
- efnahagurmonetary resources
- fjárhagurmonetary resources
Indonesian keuangan
- keuanganmanagement of money and other assets
Irish maoinigh
- maoinighto obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
Italian finanza, finanza
- finanzamanagement of money and other assets
- finanzascience of management of money and other assets
- finanzemonetary resources
- finanziareto obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
Japanese 財政, 金融
- 財政 (zaisei)management of money and other assets
- 金融 (kin'yū)management of money and other assets
- ファイナンス (fainansu)management of money and other assets
- 融資する (yūshi suru)to obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
- 資金を調達する (shikin o chōtatsu suru)to obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
Korean 재정, 금융
- 재정 (jaejeong)management of money and other assets
- 금융 (geumnyung)management of money and other assets
- 융자하다 (yungjahada)to obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
- 융통하다 (yungtonghada)to obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
- 꾸다 (kkuda)to obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
Latvian finanses
- finansesmanagement of money and other assets
Lithuanian finansai
- finansaimanagement of money and other assets
Malay kewangan
- kewanganmanagement of money and other assets
Norwegian Bokmål finanser
- finansermanagement of money and other assets
Polish finanse, finansować
- finansemanagement of money and other assets
- finansowaćto obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
- sfinansowaćto obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
Portuguese finanças, finanças
- finançasmanagement of money and other assets
- finançasscience of management of money and other assets
- finançasmonetary resources
- financiarto obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
Romanian finanța
- finanțamanagement of money and other assets
Russian фина́нсы, фина́нсы
- фина́нсы (finánsy)management of money and other assets
- фина́нсы (finánsy)science of management of money and other assets
- фина́нсы (finánsy)monetary resources
- финанси́ровать (finansírovatʹ)to obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
- профинанси́ровать (profinansírovatʹ)to obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
Slovak financie, financovať
- financiemanagement of money and other assets
- financovaťto obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
Spanish finanza, financiar
- finanzamanagement of money and other assets
- financiarto obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
Swedish finans, finansiera
- finansmanagement of money and other assets
- finansierato obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
Tagalog pananalapi, palasalapian
- pananalapimanagement of money and other assets
- palasalapianscience of management of money and other assets
- pananalapimonetary resources
Thai การเงิน
- การเงิน (gaan-ngən)management of money and other assets
Turkish maliye, finans
- maliyemanagement of money and other assets
- finansmanagement of money and other assets
- maliyescience of management of money and other assets
- akçelemekto obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
- finanse etmekto obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
Ukrainian фіна́нси, фінансува́ти
- фіна́нси (finánsy)management of money and other assets
- фінансува́ти (finansuváty)to obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
- профінансува́ти (profinansuváty)to obtain or provide funding for a transaction or undertaking
Urdu فِنانْس, مالِیات
- فِنانْس (fināns)management of money and other assets
- مالِیات (māliyāt)management of money and other assets
Vietnamese tài chính
- tài chínhmanagement of money and other assets
Welsh cyllid
- cyllidmanagement of money and other assets
Yiddish פֿינאַנץ, פֿינאַנצן
- פֿינאַנץ (finants)management of money and other assets
- פֿינאַנצן (finantsn)monetary resources
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with finance
Cite this entry
finance. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/finance
“finance.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/finance. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “finance,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/finance.
Source: finance on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.