joint stock

American  

noun

1. stock or capital divided into a number of shares.

2. a pool of stock held in common.

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joint stock British  

noun

1. capital funds held in common and usually divided into shares between the owners

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Etymology

Origin of joint stock

First recorded in 1605–15

Example Sentences

Shareholders were not legally liable for the actions of the company and could not lose more than the amount of their investment, but they could earn large profits if the joint stock company were successful.

From Textbooks • Dec. 14, 2022

At the center of shadow banking are the 12 nationally licensed joint stock banks and many of the more than 100 city commercial lenders which hold about a third of China’s commercial banking assets.

From Reuters • Dec. 28, 2017

He warned that a new innovation, the joint stock company, skewed incentives because those who run a company aren’t the ones who own it.

From New York Times • May 29, 2013

The city with the most joint stock companies per head of population, a measure of enterprise, was not London, but Cardiff, followed by Bradford and then London.

From The Guardian • Jul. 12, 2012

When the Agricultural Revolution opened opportunities for the creation of crowded cities and mighty empires, people invented stories about great gods, motherlands and joint stock companies to provide the needed social links.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari