fiat

See also: Fiat, FIAT, and fiât

English

Etymology

From Latin fīat (“let it be done”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfaɪæt/, /ˈfi.æt/

• Audio (UK)

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• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æt

Noun

fiat (plural fiats)

1. An arbitrary or authoritative command or order to do something; an effectual decree.

   A royal fiat.

   A presidential fiat.

   • 1788, Alexander Hamilton, Federalist no. 73

     The reflection that the fate of a fellow-creature depended on his sole fiat, would naturally inspire scrupulousness and caution; [...]

   • 1834, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Francesca Carrara, volume 2, page 142:

     Beatrice raised her head: she looked at me as if on my words hung the fiat of life or death, fear and earnestness dilating her dark eyes—for an unconfessed hope had arisen within her.

   • 1962 February, “Talking of Trains: Dearer meals in B.R. trains”, in Modern Railways, page 78:

     The increases from December 4 in the prices of table d'hôte meals in British Railways restaurant cars were expected, in view both of a general upward trend in meal prices in the catering trade and of the fiat that train meals must pay for themselves.

2. Authorization, permission or (official) sanction.

   A government fiat.

   To rule by fiat.

3. (English law) A warrant of a judge for certain processes.
4. (English law) An authority for certain proceedings given by the Lord Chancellor's signature.
5. (attributive) (Pertaining to) fiat currency.
   • 1888, Lew Wallace, Life of Gen. Ben Harrison, page 281:

     But let us trace a little more particularly the differences between the "fiat" dollar and the greenback. The greenback, in common with every bank note any of you have ever seen, contains a promise to pay dollars.

   • 1892, Thomas Wallace Knox, The Republican Party and Its Leaders: A History of the Party from Its Beginning to the Present Time... Lives of Harrison and Reid, page 403:

     But, say these men who claim for our Congress creative power, we will pass a law making these 'fiat' dollars legal tender for all debts, public and private.

   • 1896, Charles McClellan Stevens, Free Silver and the People: A Campaign Hand-book for the Struggling Millions Against the Gold-hoarding Millionaires, page 211:

     The gold dollar is as much a fiat dollar as the silver dollar or a paper dollar, for none of them are money without this fiat [of the government, that it is legal tender].

   • 2003, Moriah Saul, Plantation Earth: The Cross of Iron and the Chains of Debt, Trafford Publishing, →ISBN, page 83:

     All silver content in coins had to be removed from the currency supply, and fiat coins (or tokens) had to take their place.

   • 2013 November 11, James A. Dorn; William A. Niskanen, Dollars Deficits & Trade, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 44:

     […] a unit of a fiat medium of exchange like the dollar bill. Like fiat money, gold has an unstable value in relation to other goods and services. The stock of gold is historically given and cannot rapidly accommodate changes in demand.

Translations

An authoritative command or order to do something; an effectual decree

• Bulgarian: указ (bg) m (ukaz), декрет (bg) m (dekret)
• German: Anordnung (de) f, Befehl (de) m, Erlass (de) m, Vorschrift (de) f, Fiat n
• Hungarian: rendelet (hu), parancs (hu), utasítás (hu)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: ferman (ku) f, emir (ku)

• Polish: zarządzenie (pl) n
• Portuguese: decreto (pt) m
• Swedish: dekret (sv) n, påbud (sv) c

Authorization, permission or (official) sanction.

• German: Ermächtigung (de) f, Erlaubnis (de) f, Genehmigung (de) f, Zustimmung (de) f, Billigung (de) f
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: ruxset (ku) f, îcaze (ku) f, rêdan (ku) f

• Portuguese: sanção (pt) m

Derived terms

• fiat money
• fiat currency

Verb

fiat (third-person singular simple present fiats, present participle fiating, simple past and past participle fiated)

1. (transitive, used in academic debate and role-playing games) To make (something) happen.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:fiat.

References

• “fiat” in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• “fiat”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.

Anagrams

• Fait, fita

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Catalan

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /fiˈat/
• Rhymes: -at

Verb

fiat m (feminine fiada, masculine plural fiats, feminine plural fiades)

1. past participle of fiar

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Latin

The word "FꟾAT", with a long I and an A–T ligature.

Verb

fīat

1. third-person singular present active subjunctive of fīō: "may it become", "may it be made", "may it happen"
2. third-person singular present passive subjunctive of faciō: "may it become", "may it be made", "may it happen"

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Turkish

Noun

fiat (definite accusative fiati, plural fiatler)

1. Alternative form of fiyat (“price”)