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dividend

dividend

30 5.7
An extra benefit you get later from something you do now
  • noun
  • /ˈdɪvɪˌdɛnd/
translation icon : beneficio
  • You could buy quality stocks that pay good dividends that will rise with the falling dollar.
  • pay dividends
  • peace dividend
  • reap dividends

But but it's also a dividend on our shared progress as a country.

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Examples

  • A proactive approach to informing your customers will pay dividends in greater customer satisfaction.

    Academic text (1997)
  • A willingness to share sometimes pays unexpected dividends in terms of building your professional reputation as well.

    Academic text (2012)
  • When I get that dividend, it's twice as good for me.

  • We're here to show them how they can increase their dividends.

  • The American Bar Endowment recently announced the amount of policy dividends available from its group insurance programs.

    Academic text (1993)
  • We expect it will pay dividends in higher circulation and greater patron satisfaction with the browsing experience.

    Academic text (2015)
  • Existing research suggests that high-performance systems generate performance dividends for companies and provide good workplaces for employees.

    Academic text (1996)
  • When ethnic minority faculty are employed, dividends go beyond supporting just ethnic minorities.

    Academic text (1996)
  • Strengthening the Endowment's grant programs this year were dividends totaling $226,000 from ABI.

    Academic text (1994)
  • Investors were pleased to receive a higher dividend this year due to the company's increased profits.

Synonyms

bonus
vsdividend
310 2.2

A company pays extra money to an employee for good work

is a surplus share paid to owners rather than an employee reward
divvy
vsdividend
  • Archaic
9.3

A share of a co-op's profits given to its members

is the general term for a surplus share to owners

Compounds

stock dividend
  • Specialized
2 4.0

Extra shares given to shareholders instead of cash

quarterly dividend
  • Specialized
1 4.6

A payment a company makes to people who own its shares every three months

8.3

An official paper telling a company to pay a shareholder a dividend

equalizing dividend
  • Specialized
9.4

A payment to shareholders that makes up for losses from a changed dividend schedule

extra dividend
  • Specialized
5.1

A special payment a company gives people who own its shares when it has extra money

How Beneficial

bonus
310 2.2
dividend
30 5.7
to advantage
4 5.8

Surface Forms

dividend singular
dividends plural

Morphology

dividend = divide (transparent) = divide + end

This figurative sense ('an extra benefit or bonus' as a share of surplus) can be derived from the idea of something to be divided among recipients.

Etymology

A helpful way to remember the extra meaning of dividend is to think of the root divide, which means 'to give out parts'. That is why when something 'pays dividends' it gives extra benefits or returns later.