fond

Like 'fonds', from the Latin 'fundus' ('bottom, base, land, property, domain, that which confirms, that which authorizes, that which is a guarantee'). The 's' in 'fonds' is the mark of the nominative case in Old French, which remained in the word, as in 'fils'. The distinction that has been tried to establish between 'fond' and 'fonds' using this accidental 's' is completely ignored by older authors.