dividend
noun
- Payment made by a corporation to its shareholders, usually as a distribution of profits
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈdɪvɪdɛnd/
noun
Etymology: From Middle French dividende, from Latin dīvidendum (“thing to be divided”), future passive participle of dīvidō (“to divide”), by surface analysis, divide + -end.
- A cash payment of money by a company to its shareholders, usually made periodically (e.g., quarterly or annually).
“On all dividends which do not exceed six per centum per annum, eight per centum; on dividends exceeding six per centum and not exceeding seven per centum, a tax of nine per centum...”
“Quarterly or annual dividend payments provide good income streams for investors who need cash in the short-term. And for those playing the longer game, dividends can be reinvested to buy even more shares in those same companies.”
- A number or expression that is to be divided by another.
“In "42 ÷ 3" the dividend is the 42.”
- Beneficial results from a metaphorical investment (of time, effort, etc.)
“His 10,000 hours of practice and recitals eventually paid dividends when he become first-chair violinist.”
“That blood and pain paid a dividend, too, even when the subject wasn't a sorcerer.”
verb
Etymology: From Middle French dividende, from Latin dīvidendum (“thing to be divided”), future passive participle of dīvidō (“to divide”), by surface analysis, divide + -end.
- To pay out a dividend.
“He held instead that the words "sell or otherwise dispose of" in Clause 2 of the Shareholders' Agreement prevented the dividending of the shares in Hawker Holdings to the shareholders of Hawker Siddeley […]”
“Therefore, $125 million of 1983 Preferred Shares (Blue Jay) would be tendered for retirement with $135 million of the $370 million dividended up to Blue Jay.”