fiscal

1 of 2

adjective

fis·​cal ˈfi-skəl How to pronounce fiscal (audio)
1
: of or relating to taxation, public revenues, or public debt
fiscal policy
the city's fiscal requirements
2
: of or relating to financial matters
fiscal transactions
fiscally adverb

fiscal

2 of 2

noun

Did you know?

Fiscal derives from the Latin noun fiscus, meaning "basket" or "treasury." In ancient Rome, fiscus was the term for the treasury controlled by the emperor, where the money was literally stored in baskets and was collected primarily in the form of revenue from the provinces. Fiscus also gave English confiscate, which is most familiar as a verb meaning "to seize by or as if by authority," but it can additionally refer to the forfeiting of private property to public use. Today, we often encounter fiscal in "fiscal year," a 12-month accounting period not necessarily coinciding with the calendar year.

Examples of fiscal in a Sentence

Adjective the fiscal health of the university gained some fiscal knowledge by taking an economics course
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
Trump broke with many core elements of Republican economic orthodoxy, promising to never cut entitlements like Social Security and Medicare, which reversed decades of Republican fiscal conservatism. CBS News, 23 Mar. 2024 The cuts are severe; a request for $949 million to fund the mission for fiscal 2024 was trimmed to $300 million, although efforts are underway to restore at least some of the funding. Amy J. Williams, Discover Magazine, 16 Mar. 2024 So far in fiscal 2024, the immigration court backlog in San Diego is 7,290 pending cases and 664 in Otay Mesa. Being held for a month caused Cancino time away from school, which led to him extending his high school experience, Vakili said. Alexandra Mendoza, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Mar. 2024 For fiscal 2024, Dollar Tree anticipates earnings between $6.70 and $7.30 per share. Michelle Chapman, Quartz, 14 Mar. 2024 The company will close 600 Family Dollar locations in the first half of fiscal 2024. Jaclyn Peiser, Washington Post, 13 Mar. 2024 Some of this money would be used to fund new child-care and preschool programs, restore the child-tax credit, expand student-debt reduction, and reduce health-care costs; the rest would go toward cutting the deficit, which the White House estimates at 6.6 per cent of G.D.P. in fiscal 2024. John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 12 Mar. 2024 The retailer expects net sales growth from 4% to 6% for fiscal 2024, in line with estimates but lower than last year. Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 12 Mar. 2024 Chambers, Hill question Braun's record Chambers issued the first dig of the evening halfway through the debate by questioning Braun's record in the Senate as a fiscal conservative. Kayla Dwyer, The Indianapolis Star, 12 Mar. 2024
Noun
Its imports from Moscow in the last fiscal until February were nearly 15 times its shipments back to Russia, according to India’s trade ministry data. Mimansa Verma, Quartz, 11 May 2023 Medtronic expects organic revenue growth of around 4% in the second half of the current fiscal. Trefis Team, Forbes, 10 Feb. 2023 In May, when the government decided to cut the excise duty on petrol by Rs8 and on diesel by Rs6 per litre to reduce inflationary pressures, experts had estimated the cost to the exchequer would increase by Rs85,000 crore in the ongoing fiscal. Mimansa Verma, Quartz, 4 July 2022 His major reforms included fewer government programs and reduced government spending; less government intervention in fiscal, trade, and labor policies; income-tax cuts; and privatization. Lee Edwards, National Review, 14 Oct. 2019 The treasurer doesn't have much authority to set the state's fiscal or any other type of policy. Julia O'Donoghue, NOLA.com, 13 Oct. 2017 If approved, the plan could raise $435 million through 2019, according to an April fiscal analysis of HB 2186. Joseph O’Sullivan, The Seattle Times, 5 June 2017 This year that is not an option if Republicans want to advance their ambitious fiscal... Kate Davidson, WSJ, 18 May 2017

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fiscal.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective and Noun

Latin fiscalis, from fiscus basket, treasury

First Known Use

Adjective

1563, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1869, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of fiscal was in 1563

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Dictionary Entries Near fiscal

Cite this Entry

“Fiscal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fiscal. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

fiscal

adjective
fis·​cal
ˈfis-kəl
1
: of or relating to public finances
2
: of or relating to financial matters
fiscally
-kə-lē
adverb

Legal Definition

fiscal

adjective
fis·​cal ˈfis-kəl How to pronounce fiscal (audio)
1
: of or relating to taxation, public revenues, or public debt
fiscal policy
2
: of or relating to financial matters
fiscally adverb
Etymology

Adjective

Latin fiscalis, from fiscus basket, treasury

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