INVESTMENT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does investment mean? 

• INVESTMENT (noun)
  The noun INVESTMENT has 6 senses:

1. the act of investing; laying out money or capital in an enterprise with the expectation of profit

2. money that is invested with an expectation of profit

3. the commitment of something other than money (time, energy, or effort) to a project with the expectation of some worthwhile result

4. outer layer or covering of an organ or part or organism

5. the act of putting on robes or vestments

6. the ceremonial act of clothing someone in the insignia of an office; the formal promotion of a person to an office or rank

  Familiarity information: INVESTMENT used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INVESTMENT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of investing; laying out money or capital in an enterprise with the expectation of profit

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

investing; investment

Hypernyms ("investment" is a kind of...):

finance (the commercial activity of providing funds and capital)

Domain member category:

bull (try to raise the price of stocks through speculative buying)

buy into (buy stocks or shares of a company)

pyramid (enlarge one's holdings on an exchange on a continued rise by using paper profits as margin to buy additional amounts)

subscribe (offer to buy, as of stocks and shares)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "investment"):

arbitrage (a kind of hedged investment meant to capture slight differences in price; when there is a difference in the price of something on two different markets the arbitrageur simultaneously buys at the lower price and sells at the higher price)

foreign direct investment (investing in United States businesses by foreign citizens (often involves stock ownership of the business))

leverage; leveraging (investing with borrowed money as a way to amplify potential gains (at the risk of greater losses))

Derivation:

invest (make an investment)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Money that is invested with an expectation of profit

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Synonyms:

investment; investment funds

Hypernyms ("investment" is a kind of...):

assets (anything of material value or usefulness that is owned by a person or company)

Domain member category:

bear; pay; yield (bring in)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "investment"):

speculation; venture (an investment that is very risky but could yield great profits)

Derivation:

invest (make an investment)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The commitment of something other than money (time, energy, or effort) to a project with the expectation of some worthwhile result

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

he made an emotional investment in the work

Hypernyms ("investment" is a kind of...):

commitment; committedness (the trait of sincere and steadfast fixity of purpose)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Outer layer or covering of an organ or part or organism

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("investment" is a kind of...):

cutis; skin; tegument (a natural protective body covering and site of the sense of touch)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "investment"):

pellicle (thin protective membrane in some protozoa)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The act of putting on robes or vestments

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("investment" is a kind of...):

dressing; grooming (the activity of getting dressed; putting on clothes)

Sense 6

Meaning:

The ceremonial act of clothing someone in the insignia of an office; the formal promotion of a person to an office or rank

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

investiture; investment

Hypernyms ("investment" is a kind of...):

promotion (act of raising in rank or position)

Derivation:

invest (furnish with power or authority; of kings or emperors)

 Context examples 

It’s also possible you will tackle a goal with your partner that seems to involve real estate, either to live in as your residence or as an investment or vacation home.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Would it not be a paying investment to put stamps on the huge pile of manuscripts under the table and start them on their travels again?

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Do you think I am a Jew-usurer, seeking good investment in land?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I have never been a very rich man, Mr. Holmes—never made but one investment in my life, as Dr. Trevelyan would tell you.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I recommend Mr. Micawber, my dear Mr. Copperfield, to do the same; to regard it as an investment which is sure of return, and to make up his mind to any sacrifice.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The distribution of resources over various time periods, products, operations, or investments.

(Allocation, NCI Thesaurus)

I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his foot.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

So Jo was satisfied with the investment of her prize money, and fell to work with a cheery spirit, bent on earning more of those delightful checks.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

To qualify as extraordinary opportunities these research initiatives must: Respond to important recent developments in knowledge and technology; Offer approaches to cancer research beyond the size, scope, and funding of our current research activities; Be implemented with specific, defined investments; Be described in terms of achievable milestones, with clear consequences for not investing; and Promise advances for making progress against all cancers.

(Extraordinary Opportunities for Investment, NCI Thesaurus)

The project is part of an agreement signed with the Russian Space Agency(ROSCOMOS) in April, whereby the agency committed investments of about $3.2 million, and Brazil agreed to provide facilities for equipment operation, in addition to meeting energy, internet, and other costs.

(High tech Russian telescope to start operating in Brazil, Agência Brasil)