fiat

noun

fi·​at ˈfē-ət 

-ˌat,

-ˌät;

ˈfī-ət,

-ˌat 

1

: an authoritative or arbitrary order : decree

government by fiat

2

: an authoritative determination : dictate

a fiat of conscience

3

: a command or act of will that creates something without or as if without further effort

According to the Bible, the world was created by fiat.

Synonyms

• bull
• decree
• diktat
• directive
• edict
• rescript
• ruling
• ukase

Examples of fiat in a Sentence

He runs the company by fiat.

the school principal issued a fiat that caps were not to be worn inside the school, and that was that

Recent Examples on the Web

Twitter will reportedly focus on fiat payment tools initially, although crypto could become a later priority. —Chris Morris, Fortune, 27 Oct. 2023

On the surface this might appear to be an unusual move for a company whose core business is processing fiat transactions, but that overlooks the reality that PayPal has long been involved in the crypto sector. —Sean Stein Smith, Forbes, 13 Aug. 2023

Stablecoins are a form of cryptocurrency that ties their value to an underlying asset, such as gold or fiat currency, and don’t typically fluctuate in value wildly, as some cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, have, because they are asset-backed. —Zachary Halaschak, Washington Examiner, 27 July 2023

Eventually, no doubt, the thieves will attempt to cash out more of their stolen and laundered cryptocurrency for some sort of fiat currency. —Andy Greenberg, WIRED, 12 Oct. 2023

Furthermore, gas fees associated with on-chain transactions, combined with off-ramp challenges into fiat currency, make crypto payments unfeasible for most people. —Byleo Schwartz, Fortune Crypto, 26 Sep. 2023

Stablecoins—digital assets backed by fiat currencies—handle trillions of dollars in transactions on blockchains like Ethereum. —Alex Tapscott, Fortune Crypto, 17 Sep. 2023

The pair talked up a vision of transforming different fiat currencies into digital tokens that could be used anywhere to settle payments almost instantly and at a fraction of the cost of traditional transfers. —Leo Schwartz, Fortune Crypto, 6 Sep. 2023

Notable exchanges like Bitfinex, Bittrex, Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, and others became the early adopters of USDT, utilizing it as a superior alternative to traditional fiat currencies, thereby bypassing the need for maintaining external banking relationships. —Sixteen Ramos, The Arizona Republic, 29 Aug. 2023

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Word History

Etymology

Latin, let it be done, 3rd singular present subjunctive of fieri to become, be done — more at be

First Known Use

circa 1631, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Phrases Containing fiat

• fiat money

• fiat money

Kids Definition

fiat

noun

fi·​at ˈfē-ət  -at 

-ät;

ˈfī-ət,

-at

: an order from someone in charge

Legal Definition

fiat

noun

fi·​at ˈfē-ˌät, -ˌat, -ət; ˈfī-ˌat 

1

: decree

2

: an authoritative but arbitrary order

a brazen act of judicial fiat

—L. H. Tribe