dividend
- 01 C1 Advanced
n.a part of a company's profit that is paid to the people who own shares in it.
n.a sum of money paid regularly by a company to its shareholders out of its profits or reserves.
Simple“The company announced a higher dividend this year because profits were so strong.”
In context“The board of directors voted to issue a special dividend to shareholders following the successful divestment of the firm's overseas subsidiaries.”
UsageOften used with the verbs 'pay', 'declare', or 'issue'.
- 02 C2 Proficiency
n.the number that is being divided by another number.
n.the quantity or number that is to be divided by another number, known as the divisor.
Simple“In the calculation 20 divided by 5, the number 20 is the dividend.”
In context“The student struggled to identify the dividend within the complex algebraic fraction, confusing it with the divisor below the line.”
Antonymsdivisor - 03 C2 Proficiency
v.to pay out a share of profits to shareholders.
v.to distribute a portion of corporate earnings to shareholders as a dividend.
Simple“The firm decided to dividend its excess cash rather than reinvesting it.”
In context“The corporation chose to dividend the surplus capital to its investors to maintain a high stock valuation during the market downturn.”
UsageThis verb use is rare outside of specialized accounting or legal contexts.
Synonymsdistributedisburse
“Real Madrid will hope the investment in Diomande pays dividends, as he resembles a dynamic, younger version of Vinicius Junior, and can perform on either wing.”
“It resembles a bond because it pays a fixed dividend, akin to a fixed interest rate.”
From Middle French dividende, from Latin dīvidendum (“thing to be divided”), future passive participle of dīvidō (“to divide”), by surface analysis, divide + -end.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.