fund

American  

[fuhnd] / fʌnd /

noun

• funds
  plural

1. a supply of money or pecuniary resources, as for some purpose.

   a fund for his education;

   a retirement fund.

2. supply; stock.

   a fund of knowledge;

   a fund of jewels.

   Synonyms:

   hoard, mine, fount, reservoir, store

3. funds, money immediately available; pecuniary resources.

   to be momentarily without funds.

4. an organization created to administer or manage a fund, as of money invested or contributed for some special purpose.

---

verb (used with object)

• funds,
  present (3rd person singular)
• funded,
  past participle,  past
• funding
  present participle

1. to provide a fund to pay the interest or principal of (a debt).

2. to convert (general outstanding debts) into a more or less permanent debt, represented by interest-bearing bonds.

3. to allocate or provide funds for (a program, project, etc.).

fund British  

/ fʌnd /

noun

1. a reserve of money, etc, set aside for a certain purpose

2. a supply or store of something; stock

   it exhausted his fund of wisdom

---

verb

1. to furnish money to in the form of a fund

2. to place or store up in a fund

3. to convert (short-term floating debt) into long-term debt bearing fixed interest and represented by bonds

4. to provide a fund for the redemption of principal or payment of interest of

5. to accumulate a fund for the discharge of (a recurrent liability)

   to fund a pension plan

6. to invest (money) in government securities See also funds

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• funder
  noun
• overfund
  noun
• underfunding
  noun
• overfund
  verb (used with object)
• prefund
  verb (used with object)
• underfund
  verb (used with object)
• nonfunded
  adjective
• underfunded
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• funds
  plural

Participles

• funding
  present
• funded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• fund
  simple
• funds
  simple
• have funded
  perfect
• has funded
  perfect
• am funding
  progressive
• are funding
  progressive
• is funding
  progressive
• have been funding
  perfect progressive
• has been funding
  perfect progressive

Past

• funded
  simple
• had funded
  perfect
• was funding
  progressive
• were funding
  progressive
• had been funding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will fund
  simple
• will have funded
  perfect
• will be funding
  progressive
• will have been funding
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of fund

First recorded in 1670–80; from Latin fundus “bottom, estate”; replacing fond ² in most of its senses

Explanation

A fund is a supply of money to be used for a specific purpose. You can start a fund for almost anything, such as your child’s education, a new car, or the establishment of the world’s largest origami collection. Fund can be used as a verb meaning “provide funds for something.” If you’re unable to save up the money to start your origami collection, you might ask a friend to fund it. (We predict she’ll say no.) An organization that raises money for a particular, often charitable, purpose can also be called a fund. We doubt an origami collection warrants its own fund, but there's no harm in trying.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fund funds funded funding

Last week, London-based HANetf, an exchange-traded fund provider, launched the world’s first euro-hedged bitcoin exchange-traded commodity, or ETC—noting a shift in demand among its European client base.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

But the fund has pulled back a bit since June 30, when it was up 33% for the first half of the year.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026

The only way to prompt reform in higher education is to fund new, innovative competitors in the field.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

Tesla’s next task is to prove those sales will generate enough cash to fund its AI ambitions, and that the money it spends on them will reward shareholders.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026

“We’ve been trying to build and fund the equipment for years,” Robin said.

From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen

The most obvious type would be directly held bonds or bond mutual funds, whose prices tend to drop when interest rates rise.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026

Prize funds are limited, mostly serving as a contribution towards costs.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

The ports plan to fund the new incentive program using $60 million from their clean-truck funds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

The business, now called Ripple Prime, is working with a number of ETF providers and wants to expand to other investment managers, including hedge funds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

In February of 1854, as funds dwindled, Cornelius Grinnell asked Elisha’s brother, Robert Patterson Kane, for help.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

French education is largely funded by the central government, unlike in the U.S. where local taxes are the main source of public school funding.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

I will be watching margins, operating cash flow, capital spending and management’s explanation of how the expansion will be funded.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026

The special services for these students are only partially funded by state and federal resources.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

Patient navigation is already widely used in cancer care and is even funded by Medicaid, Yee said.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026

Through a federally funded job training program operated by Goodwill Industries, McNair found a $9-an-hour job at a warehouse twenty miles—two buses and a taxi ride—away.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Competition would force existing universities to adapt faster and more comprehensively than any direct donation or withheld government funding could.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

"We are delivering the biggest reforms to policing in over 200 years, alongside record funding to protect Muslim and Jewish people and places of worship," she added.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

A cushion is not a funding plan, however.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026

AI startup Manus, whose acquisition by Meta was blocked by the Chinese government, said Thursday it had completed a funding round that raised more than $500 million.

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

For one thing, although he's a bona fide academic his funding actually comes from the Ministry of Defense—I know the financial codes they use.

From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman

Related Words

• capital
• endowment
• foundation
• stock
• supply
• treasury
• trust