What is "fiat"

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.

   His fiat laid the corner stone.
   --Willis.

2. (Eng. Law)

   1. A warrant of a judge for certain processes.

   2. An authority for certain proceedings given by the Lord Chancellor's signature.

      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.

1630s, "authoritative sanction," from Latin fiat "let it be done" (used in the opening of Medieval Latin proclamations and commands), third person singular present subjunctive of fieri be done, become, come into existence," used as passive of facere "to make, do" (see factitious). Meaning "a decree, command, order" is from 1750. In English the word also sometimes is a reference to fiat lux "let there be light" in Gen. i:3.\n\nDixitque Deus: Fiat lux. Et facta est lux.

[Vulgate]

n. 1 An authoritative command or order to do something; an effectual decree. 2 (context English law English) A warrant of a judge for certain processes. 3 (context English law English) An authority for certain proceedings given by the Lord Chancellor's signature. vb. (context transitive used in academic debate and role-playing games English) To make (something) happen.

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]

Fiat ( Latin for "let it be done") is a theoretical construct in policy debate—derived from the word should in the resolution—whereby the substance of the resolution is debated, rather than the political feasibility of enactment and enforcement of a given plan, allowing an affirmative team to "imagine" a plan into being.

For example: a student at a high school debate argues that increases in United States support of United Nations peacekeeping may help to render the United States more multilateral. Such an increase is very unlikely to occur from the debate judge voting affirmative, but fiat allows the student to side-step this practicality, and argue on the substance of the idea, as if it could be immediately enacted.

There are different theories regarding fiat:

"Normal Means"—Going through the same political process comparable with normal legislative processes. There is no overarching, accepted definition of the legislative pathways which constitute "normal means," but clarification about what an affirmative team regards as "normal means" can be obtained as part of cross-examination by the negative team.

"Infinite" or "Durable" Fiat — the degree to which an imagined, or "fiated," action is considered permanent. In many policy debates, debaters argue about the reversibility "fiated" actions. For example, in a debate about whether the United States Federal Government should implement new regulations designed to reduce climate change, a Negative team might argue that regulations would be repealed if the Republican Party gained control of the Presidency or Congress. Various interpretations of fiats have been constructed in order to promote more realistic policy debates.

Fiat is an Italian industrial group that includes these companies:

• Fiat Aviazione, the former aircraft manufacturing division of Fiat
• Fiat S.p.A., the parent holding company that was merged in 2014 into Fiat Chrysler
  • Fiat Chrysler Automobiles
  • Fiat Group Automobiles, the subsidiary of FCA grouping automotive manufacturing activities
    • Fiat Automobiles, the subsidiary producing Fiat branded automobiles
    • Fiat Professional, the subsidiary producing Fiat branded light commercial vehicles
    • Fiat India Automobiles, the Indian subsidiary of FGA
  • Fiat Powertrain Technologies, the subsidiary of FCA manufacturing engines
• Fiat Chrysler (disambiguation)
• Fiat Ferroviaria, the former rail division of Fiat, now part of Alstom
• Fiat Industrial, the part of Fiat not directly related to automobiles, now part of CNH Industrial
• Fiat Industrial Vehicles, the former industrial vehicles division of Fiat
• Fiat Trattori, the historical Fiat company producing tractors, now New Holland Agriculture

Fiat may also refer to:

• Fiat money, currency issued by government
• Fiat (policy debate), a theoretical construct in policy debate
• Military fiat, process where a decision is made and enforced by military means without participation of political elements
• Fiat, Indiana, a small town in the United States
• Fiat, Kansas
• The Fiat Tagliero Building in Asmara, Eritrea
• "Let there be" in Latin, as in
  • Fiat Lux, "Let there be light," in Genesis
  • Fiat Panis, "Let there be bread," motto of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
  • Mary's "Fiat", the Virgin Mary's response to the Annunciation ("Let it be to me according to thy word")
• Field Information Agency; Technical (FIAT), 1945-1947 military agency for exploiting German scientific methods
• FIAT (FInite element Automatic Tabulator), a Python package for computing general families of finite elements
• Felony Investigative Assistance Team, Illinois