investment
/in'vestmənt/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Noun:
- The act of committing resources (money, time, effort) with the expectation of future benefit: The core meaning involves allocating something valuable now to gain a return later. This most commonly refers to money but can also apply to non-financial resources.
- The money or capital that is committed: The sum of money or assets that are put into a financial venture.
- (Formal/Historical) The formal ceremony of installing someone in an office or rank; investiture: The act of clothing someone with the official garments or insignia of a position.
Usage and Examples
- Financial Commitment:
- She made a wise investment in the technology company ten years ago.
- The government is encouraging foreign investment in renewable energy.
- Commitment of Non-Financial Resources:
- Learning a language requires a significant investment of time and effort.
- His emotional investment in the community project was evident to everyone.
- (Formal) Ceremonial Act:
- The investment of the new bishop was a solemn ceremony.
Advanced Usage
- "Return on Investment (ROI)": A key financial metric used to evaluate the efficiency or profitability of an investment, calculated as (Net Profit / Cost of Investment) x 100.
- The marketing campaign had a high return on investment.
- "Investment portfolio": A collection of financial investments like stocks, bonds, and cash equivalents held by an individual or institution.
- He diversified his investment portfolio to manage risk.
Variants and Related Words
- Invest (verb): To commit money or capital to an enterprise with the expectation of profit.
- They decided to invest their savings in real estate.
- Investor (noun): A person or organization that commits capital with the expectation of financial returns.
- The investor was pleased with the annual dividends.
- Investiture (noun): The formal ceremony of conferring the authority and symbols of a high office. (This is a synonym for the formal/historical meaning of 'investment').
- The presidential investiture will be held next week.
Synonyms
- Financial Context: Outlay, stake, capital, funding.
- Non-Financial Context: Commitment, dedication, contribution.
- Ceremonial Context: Installation, inauguration, induction.
Related Phrases and Collocations
- Long-term investment: An asset held for an extended period (typically over a year).
- Buying a house is considered a long-term investment.
- Investment strategy: A plan to allocate assets to achieve specific financial goals.
- Their investment strategy focuses on steady growth.
- Sunk cost / Sunk investment: Money that has already been spent and cannot be recovered, which should not factor into future decisions.
- We shouldn't continue the failing project just because of the sunk investment.
Idioms and Figurative Use
- "An investment in the future": An action taken now that is intended to yield benefits in the long term, often non-financial.
- Education is the best investment in the future.
- "To pay dividends" (related concept): To yield positive results or benefits, analogous to a financial investment paying returns.
- His hard work and investment in training finally paid dividends.
Noun
- the ceremonial act of clothing someone in the insignia of an office; the formal promotion of a person to an office or rank
- the act of putting on robes or vestments
- outer layer or covering of an organ or part or organism
- the commitment of something other than money (time, energy, or effort) to a project with the expectation of some worthwhile result
- this job calls for the investment of some hard thinking
- he made an emotional investment in the work
- money that is invested with an expectation of profit
- the act of investing; laying out money or capital in an enterprise with the expectation of profit