finca
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of finca
First recorded in 1905–10; from Spanish: literally, “property, real estate, farm” (apparently originally, “amount left over”; hence, “a sum of money,” becoming “income from a property,” finally becoming “the property (itself),” derivative of Old Spanish fincar “to remain,” stative derivative of fincar ( Spanish hincar ) “to drive in, fix, sink (a nail),” alteration of ficar (from unattested Vulgar Latin fīgicāre, for Latin fīgere “to fasten”), with -n- perhaps from dialect finsar “to mark out” (ultimately from Medieval Latin fīxāre; cf. fix, fichu ( def. ) )
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:
“We’ve been looking for our finca for how long now?”
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 4, 2021
In the first chapter, Basch and Berry are staying at their Costa Rican finca, and Basch requires stitches from a Tica physician.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 25, 2019
Cooper, a Hemingway confidant, was among the long roster of celebrities to make the trek to the finca in the coming years.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2018
Stern called the finca row just one example of Becker’s inability to cope with the millions he had earned.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 10, 2017
“Bah! A otro perro con ese hueso. That finca doesn’t belong to Lalao. That man doesn’t own the hole to lay his corpse in.”
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
During his time in office, Arbenz emerged as the owner of a $3,000,000 cotton plantation; his Interior Minister turned into a gentleman-farmer with two coffee fincas; another pal acquired two mansions.
From Time Magazine Archive
Some of his 50-odd cattle ranches and 45 coffee fincas he got by "smart buying."
From Time Magazine Archive
We measured twenty-seven men, and there were really no more in the town, the rest being away on fincas.
From In Indian Mexico (1908) by Starr, Frederick
His fincas and herds and mines melted away from him like grease from a holy candle.
From Carmen Ariza by Stocking, Charles Francis
It is fortunate, indeed, that we stopped at Hidalgo, because Tumbala is now completely ruined by the contract-labor system, which has sent its men all through the country onto fincas.
From In Indian Mexico (1908) by Starr, Frederick
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.
