shareholder
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of shareholder
Explanation
A shareholder is someone who holds stock in a company. Shareholders partially own a company and can make more money when it does well. When you share, you're using or enjoying something with others. Similarly, shareholders own shares — also known as stocks — in a company, so the shareholders all own a little piece of the company. Therefore, shareholders want the company to succeed, so their shares will be worth more money. If one shareholder owns more than 50% of the shares, that person can control the company. Otherwise, the shareholders will have to work together to make decisions.
Vocabulary lists containing shareholder
Personal Finance and Financial Literacy - High School
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Personal Finance and Financial Literacy - Middle School
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The Industrial Revolution - Middle School and High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Each would exclude companies determined by fund managers to be “founded, controlled or led by” Musk, or which he is “primarily associated” with as a major shareholder or founder.
From MarketWatch • Jul. 9, 2026
Ordinarily the supervisory board's 20 members are split evenly between worker and shareholder representatives.
From Barron's • Jul. 9, 2026
Perhaps 15% of global companies are ‘zombies,’ generating enough revenue to pay interest but not pay down principal debt or make shareholder distributions.
From MarketWatch • Jul. 9, 2026
The divestment monetizes a mature asset and funds shareholder returns that should help support ResMed’s share price, Jellinek tells clients.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 8, 2026
He became Avant!’s single largest shareholder; he pressed management for changes.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
