Meanings
nouninvestment (countable and uncountable, plural investments)
plural investments
- countableuncountableThe act of investing, or state of being invested.
Giving your children a good education is a wise long-term investment.
- countableuncountablebusinessA placement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use or appreciation.
An investment in ink, paper, and steel pens.
1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC1 more example
Hidden behind thickets of acronyms and gorse bushes of detail, a new great game is under way across the globe.[…]The current power play consists of an extraordinary range of countries simultaneously sitting down to negotiate big free trade and investment agreements.
2013 July 19, Timothy Garton Ash, “Where Dr Pangloss meets Machiavelli”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 18Antonyms: divestment
- countableobsoleteuncountableA vestment.
Whose white investments figure innocence.
1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i] - countableuncountablegovernmentThe act of surrounding, blocking up, or besieging by an armed force, or the state of being so surrounded.
the investment of the fort
1875, John Howard Hinton, History of the United States of America, from the First Settlement1 more example
In 1858, the Governor of Kuangsi applied for his services, but the Viceroy Tsêng Kuo-fan, under whom he had served for a number of years and who recognised his value, declined to part with him. In 1860 he assisted in the defeat of the rebel reinforcements at the Hsiao-ch‘ih post station and took part in the capture of Taihu, investment of An-ch‘ing and destruction of the rebel camp at Linghu. For his services in the capture of Anch‘ing he was rewarded with the title of Baturu and placed on the list of Brigade Generals. He was next sent to Chihchow in Anhui to make reconnaissances of the country and occupy the commanding situations.
1890 May 16 [1890 April 17], “Honours to a Deceased Military Officer.”, in The North-China Herald and Supreme Court & Consular Gazette, volume XLIV, number 1189, Shanghai, →OCLC, page 594, column 3
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA placement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use or appreciation.
Opposite
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe act of investing; laying out money or capital in an enterprise with the expectation of profit
Similar
Broader
nounthe ceremonial act of clothing someone in the insignia of an office; the formal promotion of a person to an office or rank
Similar
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁én
- Proto-Italic*en
- Proto-Italic*en-
- Latinin-
- Proto-Indo-European*wes-
- Proto-Indo-European*wéstis
- Proto-Italic*westis
- Latinvestis
- Latinvestiō
- Latininvestio
- Middle Frenchinvestir
- Latininvestio
- Medieval Latininvestire
- Englishinvest
- Englishinvestment
Translations
Afrikaans belegging
- beleggingplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Arabic اِسْتِثْمَار
- اِسْتِثْمَار (istiṯmār)placement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Bulgarian инвести́ране, инвести́ция
- инвести́ране (investírane)act of investing
- инвести́ция (investícija)placement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
- вложе́ние (vložénie)placement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
- обса́да (obsáda)act of surrounding
Catalan inversió, inversió
- inversióact of investing
- inversióplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Chinese Cantonese 投資 /投资
- 投資 /投资 (tau⁴ zi¹)placement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Chinese Mandarin 投入, 投資 /投资
- 投入 (tóurù)act of investing
- 投資 /投资 (tóuzī)act of investing
- 投資 /投资 (tóuzī)placement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
- 包圍 /包围 (bāowéi)act of surrounding
- 封鎖 /封锁 (fēngsuǒ)act of surrounding
- 熔模 (róngmó)mixture of silica sand and plaster
Czech investice
- investiceplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Danish investering
- investeringplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Dutch investering, belegging
- investeringplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
- beleggingplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Esperanto investado, investado
- investadoact of investing
- investadoplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Estonian investeering
- investeeringplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Finnish sijoittaminen, sijoitus
- sijoittaminenact of investing
- sijoitusplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
- piiritysact of surrounding
- keernamixture of silica sand and plaster
French investissement, placement
- investissementplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
- placementplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
German Investition, Anlage
- Investitionplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
- Anlageplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Greek επένδυση
- επένδυση (epéndysi)placement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Hebrew הַשְׁקָעָה
- הַשְׁקָעָה (hashka'á)placement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Hindi निवेश, विनिधान
- निवेश (niveś)act of investing
- विनिधान (vinidhān)act of investing
- निवेश (niveś)placement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
- विनिधान (vinidhān)placement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Hungarian befektetés
- befektetésplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Icelandic fjárfesting
- fjárfestingplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Indonesian investasi
- investasiplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Irish fuilleamh
- fuilleamhplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Italian investimento
- investimentoplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Japanese 投資
- 投資 (tōshi)placement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Korean 투자
- 투자 (tuja)placement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Latin collocātiō
- collocātiōplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Latvian investīcija
- investīcijaplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Lithuanian investicija
- investicijaplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Malay pelaburan, investasi
- pelaburanplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
- investasiplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
- laburanplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Māori whakangaonga, whakangaonga moni
- whakangaongaact of investing
- whakangaonga moniact of investing
- whakangaongaplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
- haumitangaplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Norwegian Bokmål investering
- investeringplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Polish inwestycja
- inwestycjaplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Portuguese investimento, investimento
- investimentoact of investing
- investimentoplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
- investimentosplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
- apostaplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Romanian investiție
- investițieplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Russian инвести́рование, инвести́ция
- инвести́рование (investírovanije)act of investing
- инвести́ция (investícija)placement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
- вклад (vklad)placement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
- вложе́ние (vložénije)placement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
- капиталовложе́ние (kapitalovložénije)placement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Slovak investícia
- investíciaplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Spanish inversión, inversión
- inversiónact of investing
- inversiónplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
- insumoplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
- cercoact of surrounding
Swahili uwekezaji
- uwekezajiplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Swedish investering
- investeringplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Tagalog pamumuhunan
- pamumuhunanplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Thai การลงทุน
- การลงทุน (gaan-long-tun)placement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Turkish yatırım, envestisman
- yatırımplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
- envestismanplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
- plasmanplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Ukrainian інвести́ція, вне́сок
- інвести́ція (investýcija)placement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
- вне́сок (vnésok)placement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
- капіталовкла́дення (kapitalovkládennja)placement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Urdu سَرْمایَہ کاری
- سَرْمایَہ کاری (sarmāya kārī)placement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Vietnamese sự đầu tư
- sự đầu tưplacement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use
Cite this entry
APA
investment. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/investment
MLA
“investment.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/investment. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “investment,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/investment.
Source: investment on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.