Fiat

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Fiat \Fi"at\, n. [L., let it be done, 3d pers. sing., subj.
     pres., fr. fieri, used as pass. of facere to make. Cf. {Be}.]
     1. An authoritative command or order to do something; an
        effectual decree.
        [1913 Webster]
  


              His fiat laid the corner stone.       --Willis.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Eng. Law)
        (a) A warrant of a judge for certain processes.
        (b) An authority for certain proceedings given by the Lord
            Chancellor's signature.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     {Fiat money}, irredeemable paper currency, not resting on a
        specie basis, but deriving its purchasing power from the
        declaratory fiat of the government issuing it.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  fiat
       n : a legally binding command or decision entered on the court
           record (as if issued by a court or judge); "a friend in
           New Mexico said that the order caused no trouble out
           there" [syn: {decree}, {edict}, {order}, {rescript}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  40 Moby Thesaurus words for "fiat":
     appointment, authority, authorization, brevet, bull, certification,
     clearance, countenance, declaration, decree, decree-law,
     decreement, decretal, decretum, dictum, diktat, edict, edictum,
     empowerment, enabling, endorsement, enfranchisement, entitlement,
     ipse dixit, law, ordinance, ordonnance, proclamation,
     pronouncement, pronunciamento, ratification, rescript, rule,
     ruling, sanction, senatus consult, senatus consultum, ukase,
     warrant, warranty
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  FIAT, practice. An order of a judge, or of an officer, whose authority, to 
  be signified by his signature, is necessary to authenticate the particular 
  acts.