This word applies to verbs. A finite verb is one whose meaning is 'held' or 'bounded' by its attached subject, as in the clause, 'The athlete fainted'. Here, the past-tense verb 'fainted' is made finite by (i.e. it is limited by) its subject. This perhaps becomes clearer when you consider what a 'non-finite' verb is! Some forms of a verb do not take subjects and so are not 'bounded' by them with regard to their meaning as in these three sentence: 'Cooked meat is safer than uncooked' 'Cooking is fun' 'I like to cook' and 'Let's cook!'. One of the definitions of a sentence is that it is a group of words containing a finite clause.