The Merriam-Webster Word of the Day is fiduciary. Read on for what it means, how it’s used, and more.

What It Means

Fiduciary is a formal word meaning “relating to or involving trust (such as the trust between a customer and a professional).”

// The bank’s fiduciary obligations are clearly stated in the contract.

FIDUCIARY in Context

“The settlement says that both men agreed not to serve as a director, trustee, officer or equivalent fiduciary position with any New York charity.” — Jimmy Vielkind, The Wall Street Journal, 25 Oct. 2022

Did You Know?

Fiduciary relationships are often of the financial variety, but the word fiduciary does not, in and of itself, suggest pecuniary (“money-related”) matters. Rather, fiduciary applies to any situation in which one person justifiably places confidence and trust in someone else, and seeks that person’s help or advice in some matter. The attorney-client relationship is a fiduciary one, for example, because the client trusts the attorney to act in the best interest of the client at all times. Fiduciary can also be used as a noun referring to the person who acts in a fiduciary capacity, and fiduciarily or fiducially can be called upon if you are in need of an adverb. The words are all faithful to their origin: Latin fīdere, which means “to trust.”

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