finance
Americannoun
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the management of revenues; the conduct or transaction of money matters generally, especially those affecting the public, as in the fields of banking and investment.
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finances, the monetary resources, as of a government, company, organization, or individual; revenue.
verb (used with object)
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finances,
present (3rd person singular)
-
financed,
past participle, past
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financing
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
finances,
present (3rd person singular)
-
financed,
past participle, past
-
financing
present participle
noun
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the system of money, credit, etc, esp with respect to government revenues and expenditures
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funds or the provision of funds
-
(plural) funds; financial condition
verb
-
(tr) to provide or obtain funds, capital, or credit for
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(intr) to manage or secure financial resources
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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superfinancenoun
-
prefinanceverb (used with object)
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self-financeverb (used with object)
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underfinanceverb (used with object)
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financeableadjective
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unfinancedadjective
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well-financedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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financesimple
-
financessimple
-
have financedperfect
-
has financedperfect
-
am financingprogressive
-
are financingprogressive
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is financingprogressive
-
have been financingperfect progressive
-
has been financingperfect progressive
Past
-
financedsimple
-
had financedperfect
-
was financingprogressive
-
were financingprogressive
-
had been financingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of finance
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English finaunce, from Anglo-French, Middle French finance, from fin(er) “to end, settle, pay” ( see fine 2) + -ance -ance
Explanation
To finance something is to pay for it, like using the money you earn at your part-time job to finance your cell phone bill. As a verb, it carries two very different meanings: "to pay for" or "obtain on credit." So, if you can finance your trip, it means you have the money to pay for it. Anyone who works in finance, meaning the banking and investment industry, will tell you plenty of people get in trouble by letting credit cards finance things like vacations.
Vocabulary lists containing finance
"Women in Aviation," Vocabulary from the informational text
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Richard Nixon's "Checkers" Speech (1952)
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Economics
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Under the outline now being discussed, Nvidia would provide a financial backstop for the first phase, totaling roughly five gigawatts of power, and then decide later whether or how to finance the remainder.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
She worked in finance for almost two decades and says her time as an investment analyst taught her to see writing as both a craft and a business.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
The Reds became the top-earning Premier League club for the first time this year, according to sports finance experts Deloitte, announcing record revenues of £703 million for the 2024-25 financial year.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
Fidelity, meanwhile, has built popular subreddits around its investment and crypto offerings by convening general finance discussions and publishing guides and tips.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
While luxury stores, miraculous finance companies, exotic restaurants, and import business were flourishing, the unemployed lined up outside factory gates waiting for a chance to work at the minimum wage.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
Higher borrowing costs add pressure to public finances as debt servicing already exceeds defense spending, they noted.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Money from taxing net investment income would contribute to the program’s finances, “so it isn’t just the younger generation that has to pay for solvency,” she said.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
As they grapple with their finances, they know that every filled seat in a lecture hall comes with tuition fee funding.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
"Victory won't mean that questions about Farage or Reform's finances will go away, so it seems most likely it will be a wasted summer for everyone," he added.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
Sighing, I scrounged my finances journal out from under my pillow and tried to figure out what I could afford at the market.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
In the beginning, this new movement was largely financed by a pair of Los Angeles oil magnates.
From Salon ● Aug. 13, 2026
The mini-bubbles of recent years haven’t crushed growth because they haven’t, mostly, been financed with debt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
The chips will be financed through a separate vendor-financing deal Anthropic struck with Broadcom, some of the people said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
"The first leg of the artificial-intelligence boom was financed with cash, confidence and some of the strongest balance sheets in corporate America," wrote Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
He financed him for two weeks and at the end of that time Gay was in jail on his wife’s charge and he never did go for turtles.
From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck
There is also AI’s voracious demand for financing, which could drive up borrowing costs, as well as its impact on productivity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
The automaker is aiming to secure supplies of high-risk components through a financing arrangement of prefunding the purchase of essential parts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
In addition, Paramount said that delaying the transaction until next spring will add $190 million in bridge loan financing costs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
The company’s AI financing strategy has been an overhang on the stock this year, as it has turned to debt and equity issuances to fund its cloud buildout.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
In 2005, New York became one of a small group of states to tie college financing more closely to graduation rates, rewarding colleges more for moving students along than for simply admitting them.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
