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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.
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Examples of fiscal in a Sentence
Kevin Freking, Fortune, 11 May 2024
And redevelopment exacerbated the housing crisis by teaching cities to view land-use decisions through a fiscal lens.
—Steven Greenhut, Orange County Register, 10 May 2024
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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.
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“Fiscal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fiscal. Accessed 17 May. 2024.
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fiscal
adjective
Adjective
Latin fiscalis, from fiscus basket, treasury
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