Word of the Day

: April 29, 2014

fiscal

adjective FISS-kul

What It Means

1 : of or relating to taxation, public revenues, or public debt

2 : of or relating to financial matters

fiscal in Context

The governor was harshly criticized by his opponent for not showing more fiscal restraint during the slow economic recovery.

"Let's remember that fiscal policy, or rather the financial management of the government, has two sides, expenditures and revenues." - From an opinion column by Gerald Petersen in The News-Press (Fort Myers, Florida), March 21, 2014

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 gives us our word "confiscate," which now means "to seize" but once referred to the forfeiting of private property to public use. Today we find "fiscal" in a number of phrases, including "fiscal year" (referring to a 12-month accounting period not necessarily coinciding with the calendar year) and "fiscal cliff," a term that rose to prominence in the U.S. in 2012 when much attention was focused on a series of anticipated year-end tax increases and spending cuts.