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

Meanwhile, the investment euphoria for the emerging technology of artificial intelligence has outstripped the proven demand from end customers.

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A lower interest rate is often associated with reduced real yields, making other assets such as gold relatively more alluring for investment.

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For the Venezuelan oil industry, however, any U.S. incursion would likely turn out to be positive, Smith said, “particularly over the medium to long term, as investment in the industry would likely return.”

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Vanguard Chief Information Officer Nitin Tandon was describing his vision for an AI-powered investment assistant to a room full of journalists when he stopped to ask a bizarre but important question.

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“Continual AI investment will go into hiring of talent, potential higher promotional spending on new AI products rollout and higher associated depreciation costs,” they note.

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Related Words

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