Meanings
plural microfinances
- uncountableusuallybusinessFinance that is provided to unemployed or low-income people or groups.
Microfinance, once a relative cottage industry championed by antipoverty activists and development wonks, is on the verge of a revolution, with billions of dollars from big banks, private-equity shops and pension funds pouring in.
2008 June 5, Barbara Kiviat, “The Big Trouble In Small Loans”, in Time, archived from the original on 09 Feb 2011
Origin
From micro- + finance. Coined by German sociologist and economist Hans Dieter Seibel in 1990.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Danish mikrofinans
- mikrofinansfinance provided to low-income people
French microfinance
- microfinancefinance provided to low-income people
Italian microfinanza
- microfinanzafinance provided to low-income people
Spanish microfinanza
- microfinanzafinance provided to low-income people
Cite this entry
microfinance. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/microfinance
“microfinance.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/microfinance. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “microfinance,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/microfinance.
Source: microfinance on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.