investment

[in-vest-muhnt]

noun

1. the investing of money or capital in order to gain profitable returns, as interest, income, or appreciation in value.

2. a particular instance or mode of investing.

3. a thing invested in, as a business, a quantity of shares of stock, etc.

4. something that is invested; sum invested.

5. the act or fact of investing or state of being invested, as with a garment.

6. a devoting, using, or giving of time, talent, emotional energy, etc., as for a purpose or to achieve something.

   His investment in the project included more time than he cared to remember.

7. Biology.,  any covering, coating, outer layer, or integument, as of an animal or vegetable.

8. the act of investing with a quality, attribute, etc.

9. investiture with an office, dignity, or right.

10. a siege or blockade; the surrounding of a place with military forces or works, as in besieging.

11. Also called investment compound. Metallurgy.,  a refractory material applied in a plastic state to a pattern to make a mold.

12. Archaic.,  a garment or vestment.

investment

/ ɪnˈvɛstmənt /

noun

1. 1. the act of investing money

   2. the amount invested

   3. an enterprise, asset, etc, in which money is or can be invested

2. 1. the act of investing effort, resources, etc

   2. the amount invested

3. economics the amount by which the stock of capital (plant, machinery, materials, etc) in an enterprise or economy changes

4. biology the outer layer or covering of an organ, part, or organism

5. a less common word for investiture

6. the act of investing or state of being invested, as with an official robe, a specific quality, etc

7. rare,  the act of besieging with military forces, works, etc

investment

1. The purchase of property with the expectation that its value will increase over time.

Other Word Forms

• nonreinvestment noun
• overinvestment noun
• preinvestment noun
• proinvestment adjective
• reinvestment noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of investment¹

First recorded in 1590–1600 investment for def. 12; 1605–15 investment for def. 1; invest + -ment

Example Sentences

In January 2024, the first ETFs were launched that allowed investors to buy bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in ordinary investment accounts, including IRAs.

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In the Oval Office, the crown prince announced that the kingdom would increase a planned investment into America’s economy from $600 billion to $1 trillion.

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Siblings who had no problem splitting up houses and investment accounts can get down and dirty about photo albums.

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But it’s “almost like an investment decision for an employee,” which includes benefits and downsides.

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“Their investment in manufacturing, packaging and R&D for optical chips means the most innovative technologies that power AI, data centers and critical national security applications will be developed and built here in the U.S.A.”

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Related Words

• asset 
• contribution 
• expenditure 
• expense 
• finance 
• financing 
• grant 
• loan 
• money 
• property 
• purchase 
• stake 
• transaction 
• venture