fund

Pronunciation

• IPA: /fʌnd/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French fond (“bottom, floor, ground; a merchant's stock or capital”),^[2][3] also fonds “stock, capital”,^[4] from Latin fundus (“bottom, foundation, piece of land”),^[2][3] from Proto-Indo-European *bhudh- (“bottom, base”), the root of bottom.^[2][3] The spelling fund is a Latinized form of earlier fond, “foundation” (1664);^[3] in the 17th century fond and fund were used for both senses.^[5] The verb is from the noun.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The bottom, foundation, basis: 1677.^[3][6][4]

Semantic evolution

The money sense came from French;^[3] it may have arisen from the idea of landed property as a source of wealth.^[7] A stock or sum of money is first recorded in 1673 in Barnhart^[3] and 1694 in the OED.^[6] A store of anything to draw upon is from 1704,^[2] and funds, money at one's disposal, from 1728.^[2][6] The verb, “to convert a debt into stock bearing interest”, is from 1776, in Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations,^[3][2] and “to provide money for, to finance” from 1900.^[2]

Timeline

• 1677 – the bottom, foundation.^[3][6]
• 1694 – a stock of money.^[6]
• 1704 – a store to draw upon.^[2]
• 1728 – funds, money available.^[2][6]
• 1776 – verb, to fund a debt.^[3][2]
• 1900 – verb, to finance.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A sum of money set aside for a purpose.
2. funds: money available; cash.
3. A source of supply; a stock: a fund of stories.
4. An organization that manages money for investment or charity.

Verb

1. To provide money for; to finance.
2. To convert a debt into long-term interest-bearing bonds.

Word family

• funder
• fund-raising
• fund-raiser
• fundraise
• superfund
• defund
• overfund
• underfund

Related words

• foundation
• found
• fundamental
• bottom
• profound

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press