Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of or relating to a duty of acting in good faith with regard to the interests of another.
  • adjective Of or being a trustee or trusteeship.
  • adjective Held in trust.
  • adjective Of or consisting of fiat money.
  • adjective Of, relating to, or being a system of marking in the field of view of an optical instrument that is used as a reference point or measuring scale.
  • noun One, such as an agent of a principal or a company director, who has a duty of acting in good faith with regard to the interests of another.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Confident; steady; undoubting; unwavering; firm.
  • Having the nature of a trust, especially a financial trust; pertaining to a pecuniary trust or trustee: as, a fiduciary power. Also fiducial.
  • noun One who holds a thing in trust; a trustee.
  • noun One who depends for salvation on faith without works; an Antinomian.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Involving confidence or trust; confident; undoubting; faithful; firm.
  • adjective Holding, held, or founded, in trust.
  • noun One who holds a thing in trust for another; a trustee.
  • noun (Theol.) One who depends for salvation on faith, without works; an Antinomian.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective law Related to trusts and trustees.
  • adjective Pertaining to paper money whose value depends on public confidence or securities.
  • noun law One who holds a thing in trust for another; a trustee.
  • noun theology One who depends for salvation on faith, without works; an antinomian.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective relating to or of the nature of a legal trust (i.e. the holding of something in trust for another)
  • noun a person who holds assets in trust for a beneficiary

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin fīdūciārius, from fīdūcia, trust; see fiducial.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin fīdūciārius ("held in trust"), from fidūcia ("trust").

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Examples

  • Indeed, the word fiduciary comes from the Latin word fides, meaning faith.

    David McWilliams 2008

  • The word "fiduciary" comes from the Latin word for trust.

    Nancy F. Koehn: Leaders and Fiduciaries 2010

  • Your editorial accurately depicts what a Labor Department proposal to change the regulatory agency's definition of the phrase "fiduciary" might to do the retirement-investment industry.

    Please Don't Make Something Worse That Is Working 2011

  • Every investment product or service ever devised by Wall Street and foisted upon the public demands what I refer to as a "fiduciary response."

    Forbes.com: News Edward Siedle 2011

  • "Having been in fiduciary positions in which I was responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars of the public's money, I've demonstrated proven ability."

    Jennie M. Forehand (D)* Post 2010

  • We'll also be featuring a Research Room, "manned" by a bevy of bodacious, brainy beauties, who are fully "equipped" to give you insider tips about which games best suit your skills, value and long-term fiduciary goals.

    David Henry Sterry: Goldman Sachs Resort & Casino 2010

  • The solicitor-client relationship thus created is, however, overlaid with certain fiduciary responsibilities, which are imposed as a matter of law.

    Conflict of Interests Taskforce Reports : Law is Cool 2008

  • We'll also be featuring a Research Room, "manned" by a bevy of bodacious, brainy beauties, who are fully "equipped" to give you insider tips about which games best suit your skills, value and long-term fiduciary goals.

    David Henry Sterry: Goldman Sachs Resort & Casino 2010

  • The $146 billion joint bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund formalized earlier this week could take care of the country's short-term fiduciary problems, but major questions remain over how the country will look in the long-term, if it will ultimately be able to avoid default, and whether its problems will spread to other countries.

    Financials Slip But Don't Trip On Greece 2010

  • In addition, the Department of Labor is looking at tightening requirements for advisors who serve the retirement market, including by raising the definition of fiduciary.

    Forbes.com: News Forbes Blogs 2011

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