Dividends

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Payments distributed to shareholders as a portion of a company's profit
2. Financial gains shared with investors based on their ownership in a corporation
3. Amounts paid out to owners of stock as a share of a company's earnings

Etymology: The plural "dividends" comes from the singular "dividend," which the Latin "dīvidendum" meant literally as "thing to be divided." That Latin form was the future passive participle of "dīvidere," "to divide," so the financial sense has stayed close to its original meaning: a portion of a whole set aside for distribution. The Latin word passed into English through Middle French "dividende," and the "-end" ending is simply the Latin suffix, so the word can be read as "divide" with that suffix attached.

Synonyms: profits, returns, earnings