What’s a fiat?

June 30th, 2009 at 07:00am Barry Wood

Just in case this hasn’t been covered already:

“Chrysler saved by Fiat” could have been a headline about the recent agreement to get the U.S. automaker out of bankruptcy.

It also might have been “Chrysler saved by fiat” (lowercase “f”).

The word “fiat” comes from a form of the Latin verb “fieri,” meaning “to become, come into existence.”

In English, it has three principal definitions: “an order by legal authority; a sanction, authorization; any arbitrary order.”

Which one of those you might apply to the Chrysler-Fiat deal depends on your view of whether it was necessary or of the government’s role in it.

By the way, the name of the car company is an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino, which would be tough to fit in a logo.

Entry Filed under: definitions, word origins