Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An arbitrary order or decree.
- noun Authorization or sanction.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An authoritative
command ororder to do something; an effectualdecree . - noun English law A warrant of a judge for certain processes.
- noun English law An
authority for certain proceedings given by the Lord Chancellor's signature. - verb transitive To make (something) happen.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The term "fiat currency" pops up frequently in various places this refers to money that is directly benchmarked to the average number of times Italian cars break down in a week.
Forbes.com: News Karl Shmavonian 2011
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I used the term fiat lending to differentiate from on-lending.
LPUK Policy: Monetary Reform Patrick Vessey 2008
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Where fiat money is used as currency, the term fiat currency is used.
Mangan's 2010
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The term fiat money is used to mean: any money declared by a government to be legal tender; state-issued money which is neither legally convertible to any other thing, nor fixed in value in terms of any objective standard; money without intrinsic value.
Mangan's 2010
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Gold has no intrinsic value as a consumption good or a producer good, it is an example of what I call a fiat (physical) commodity ...
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President Obama was elected fairly (not by fiat from the SCOTUS) and is trying to actually DO something positive.
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Never mind that the world has independent legal systems peculiar to each nation or that within the USA the jurisdiction of Judge Jones 'fiat is limited.
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Another thing: when we do have human (or alien) villains: no one, other than by authorial fiat, is a villain in their own story.
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If you, like me, have no clue what the word fiat really means, you could argue that having gold behind a currency is also a form of fiat, that gold should be worth its value as a commodity rather than seen as a great and perpetual store of value.
Bill Baker: Fiat Currency Fever: The Causes Bill Baker 2010
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If you, like me, have no clue what the word fiat really means, you could argue that having gold behind a currency is also a form of fiat, that gold should be worth its value as a commodity rather than seen as a great and perpetual store of value.
Bill Baker: Fiat Currency Fever: The Causes Bill Baker 2010
uselessness commented on the word fiat
Money that has no inherent value, only perceived value held by those who exchange it. When people realize that all of their wealth is represented by worthless pieces of paper, their confidence in the currency collapses, and so does the currency itself. The alternative is commodity-backed currency, the most common of which is known as the gold standard. Nobel laureate Milton Friedman was a vocal critic of fiat money, along with other notable economists like Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard.
December 14, 2007
skipvia commented on the word fiat
I had a Fiat once. The engine was sideways...
December 14, 2007
uselessness commented on the word fiat
Well, yes. Likely it was worth more than unbacked money... ;-)
December 14, 2007
bilby commented on the word fiat
500! Classic! And I don't even like cars :-(
December 14, 2007
skipvia commented on the word fiat
It was worth more than unbacked money right up until you had to get it repaired. Then it was worse than worthless. Mechanics used to open the hood and laugh...
December 14, 2007
kewpid commented on the word fiat
Paper money has value as a promissory note enforced with the ALMIGHTY POWER OF THE GOVERNMENT! So unless you're predicting a bloody revolution, I'm fairly content with my colourful bits of polymer :)
December 14, 2007
bilby commented on the word fiat
Colourful bits of polymer ... I love it, just add a turn indicator you never use on the streets of Turin and it's a Fiat. I keep imagining Mister Bean driving this car and paying his parking fines with a ham-fistful of this currency.
December 14, 2007
uselessness commented on the word fiat
Fair enough, kewpid. I don't know where you live, but my particular government tends to lean more towards slow, bureaucratic, and inept, and away from almighty. ;-)
December 14, 2007
bilby commented on the word fiat
"Postmaster General Marvin Runyon said, when exiting his position in 1998, that he believes that the monopoly will become increasingly irrelevant, 'not through legislative fiat, not through the power of PAC dollars. But through the natural forces of marketplace competition.'" - Wikipedia.
December 15, 2007
sionnach commented on the word fiat
I think that Fiats sold in the former Soviet Union were sold under the trade name Ukase.
December 15, 2007
uselessness commented on the word fiat
bilby, what's that article about? By the way, that's the third definition of fiat on this page, for those keeping score at home.
December 15, 2007
bilby commented on the word fiat
Full text is here and the article appears to be about how an outgoing Postmaster General perceives the business might be come 2020.
December 15, 2007
artoparts commented on the word fiat
Rx abbreviated (ft) make; let it be made.
February 18, 2009
mrossi07 commented on the word fiat
The Fiat Group is the largest industrial enterprise in Italy and one of the founders of the European motor industry. Right from the outset, the company had a strong propensity for international expansion and innovation.
Fiat is an automotive-focused industrial Group and designs and manufactures automobiles, trucks, wheel loaders, excavators, telehandlers, tractors and combine harvesters.
July 6, 2009