investment

American  

[in-vest-muhnt] / ɪnˈvɛst mənt /

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 British  

/ 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 Cultural  

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

Etymology

Origin of investment

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

Example Sentences

“Ideally, the number of people who miss their RMD would be zero percent. It’s an easily avoidable mistake,” said Aaron Goodman, senior investment strategist at Vanguard.

From MarketWatch

His investment provided a jolt of support for Nike, which has been plotting a turnaround after losing ground to rivals and seeing sales sag.

From The Wall Street Journal

Even after decades of research and billions of dollars in investment, no drug trial for Alzheimer's has ever been designed with the goal of reversing the disease and recovering cognitive abilities.

From Science Daily

Those supportive posts responded to a New York Times investigation highlighting Sacks's investments in technology companies benefiting from White House AI support.

From Barron's

The path to investment success is easy to find because it’s well trodden and simple.

From Barron's

Related Words

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