tranche
Americannoun
-
Finance.
-
one part or division of a larger unit, as of an asset pool or investment.
The loan will be repaid in three tranches.
-
a group of securities that share a certain characteristic and form part of a larger offering.
The second tranche of the bond issue has a five-year maturity.
-
-
any part, division, or installment.
We’ve hired the first tranche of researchers.
verb (used with object)
noun
Usage
What does tranche mean? In finance, a tranche is a portion of a security, such as a loan, mortgage, stock, or bond, that can be sold to an investor. Securities are sometimes broken up to make them easier to sell. There are many different kinds of tranches based on characteristics such as risk, time, or whether they are backed up by assets.For example, banks loan money to people to buy homes. Often, such mortgages are paid back over 15 to 30 years. Rather than waiting for a person to repay a mortgage over 30 years, the bank will sell the mortgage to an investor so it will have money to lend to other customers. Few investors are willing to risk buying a 30-year mortgage from a bank. Instead the bank will pool a bunch of mortgages together and divide (tranche) them into different bundles they can sell to investors. For example, one tranche might include the first three years of each mortgage, another tranche will include the first five years, and another the full 30 years.This allows investors to buy the low-risk tranche of three-year mortgages that will mature (come due) soon but have a low interest rate. Or they can buy the riskier tranche of 30-year mortgages that will have higher interest rates. Tranching helps the bank get more money to lend to customers and helps investors adjust their investment depending on how much risk they want to take.In finance, tranche can also be used as a verb to mean to cut something into parts.Outside of finance, tranche can be used more generally to refer to a division, slice, or portion of something.Example: I don’t need money right away so I have money invested in a bunch of long-term tranches.
Etymology
Origin of tranche
First recorded in 1930–35; from French: literally, “a slice,” from Old French trenchier, trancher “to cut”; trench
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.
The newly surfaced messages to Maxwell, which he sent two decades ago, came in a tranche of Epstein-related documents recently made public by the Department of Justice.
From Los Angeles Times
This comes after the BBC reported that the former prince had called the document "confidential," according to an email in the latest tranche of Epstein files.
From BBC
What’s Next: The prospect of a 100-year tranche is unconventional because of how hard it is to predict External link technology’s staying power.
From Barron's
The DOJ announced that the January release would be the final tranche of documents made publicly available.
From Salon
The prospect of a 100-year tranche would be unconventional because it is difficult to predict the staying power of technology so many decades out.
From MarketWatch
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.