finance Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the commercial activity of providing funds and capital
  2. noun the branch of economics that studies the management of money and other assets
  3. noun the management of money and credit and banking and investments
  4. verb obtain or provide money for
    • Can we finance the addition to our home?
  5. verb sell or provide on credit

WordNet

Fi*nance" noun
Etymology
F., fr. LL. financia payment of money, money, fr. finare to pay a fine or subsidy (cf. OF. finer to finish, pay), fr. L. finis end. See Fine, n., Finish.
Definitions
  1. The income of a ruler or of a state; revennue; public money; sometimes, the income of an individual; often used in the plural for funds; available money; resources.
    All the finances or revenues of the imperial crown. Bacon.
  2. The science of raising and expending the public revenue. "Versed in the details of finance." Macaulay.

Webster 1913