finance

Noun · Verb

WordNet 3.0

Noun (3)

  1. the commercial activity of providing funds and capital
  2. the branch of economics that studies the management of money and other assets
  3. the management of money and credit and banking and investments

Verb (2)

  1. obtain or provide money for“Can we finance the addition to our home?”
  2. sell or provide on credit
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Finance \Fi*nance"\, n. [F., fr. LL. financia payment of money, money, fr. finare to pay a fine or subsidy (cf. OF. finer to finish, pay), fr. L. finis end. See Fine, n., Finish.]

1.The income of a ruler or of a state; revenue; public money; sometimes, the income of an individual; often used in the plural for funds; available money; resources. [1913 Webster]

All the finances or revenues of the imperial crown.— Bacon.[1913 Webster]

2.The science of raising and expending the public revenue. "Versed in the details of finance." --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]

Finance \Fi*nance"\, v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Financed; p. pr. & vb. n. Financing.] To conduct the finances of; to provide for, and manage, the capital for; to financier.

Securing foreign capital to finance multitudinous undertakings. --B. H. Chamberlain. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

The Devil's Dictionary

FINANCE, n. The art or science of managing revenues and resources for the best advantage of the manager. The pronunciation of this word with the i long and the accent on the first syllable is one of America's most precious discoveries and possessions.
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