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Webster 1913 Edition

Interest

In′ter-est

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Interested
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Interesting
.]
[From
interess’d
, p. p. of the older form
interess
, fr. F.
intéresser
, L.
interesse
. See
Interest
,
Noun.
]
1.
To engage the attention of; to awaken interest in; to excite emotion or passion in, in behalf of a person or thing;
as, the subject did not
interest
him; to
interest
one in charitable work.
To love our native country . . . to be
interested
in its concerns is natural to all men.
Dryden.
A goddess who used to
interest
herself in marriages.
Addison.
2.
To be concerned with or engaged in; to affect; to concern; to excite; – often used impersonally.
[Obs.]
Or rather, gracious sir,
Create me to this glory, since my cause
Doth
interest
this fair quarrel.
Ford.
3.
To cause or permit to share.
[Obs.]
Syn. – To concern; excite; attract; entertain; engage; occupy; hold.

In′ter-est

,
Noun.
[OF.
interest
, F.
intérêt
, fr. L.
interest
it interests, is of interest, fr.
interesse
to be between, to be difference, to be importance;
inter
between +
esse
to be; cf. LL.
interesse
usury. See
Essence
.]
☞ Interest expresses mental excitement of various kinds and degrees. It may be intellectual, or sympathetic and emotional, or merely personal; as, an interest in philosophical research; an interest in human suffering; the interest which an avaricious man takes in money getting.
So much
interest
have I in thy sorrow.
Shakespeare
2.
(Finance, Commerce)
Participation in advantage, profit, and responsibility; share; portion; part;
as, an
interest
in a brewery; he has parted with his
interest
in the stocks.
3.
Advantage, personal or general; good, regarded as a selfish benefit; profit; benefit.
Divisions hinder the common
interest
and public good.
Sir W. Temple.
When
interest
calls of all her sneaking train.
Pope.
4.
(Finance)
A fee paid for the use of money; a fee paid for a loan; – usually reckoned as a percentage;
as,
interest
at five per cent per annum on ten thousand dollars
.
They have told their money, and let out
Their coin upon large
interest
.
Shakespeare
5.
Any excess of advantage over and above an exact equivalent for what is given or rendered.
You shall have your desires with
interest
.
Shakespeare
6.
The persons interested in any particular business or measure, taken collectively;
as, the iron
interest
; the cotton
interest
.
Compound interest
,
interest, not only on the original principal, but also on unpaid interest from the time it fell due.
–
Simple interest
,
interest on the principal sum without interest on overdue interest.

Webster 1828 Edition

Interest

IN'TEREST

,
Verb.
T.
[L. inter and esse.]
1.
To concern; to affect; to excite emotion or passion, usually in favor,but sometimes against a person or thing. A narration of suffering interests us in favor of the sufferer. We are interested in the story or in the fate of the sufferer. We are interested to know the result, issue or event of an enterprise. It is followed by in or for. We are interested in the narration,but for the sufferer.
2.
To give a share in. Christ, by his atonement, has interested believers in the blessings of the covenant of grace.
3.
To have a share.
We are not all interested in the public funds, but we are all interested in the happiness of a free government.
4.
To engage; as, to interest one in our favor.
To interest one's self, is to take a share or concern in.

IN'TEREST

,
Noun.
Concern; advantage; good; as private interest; public interest.
Divisions hinder the common interest and public good.
1.
Influence over others. They had now lost their interest at court.
He knew his interest sufficient to procure the office.
2.
Share; portion; part; participation in value. He has parted with his interest in the stocks. He has an interest in a manufactory of cotton goods.
3.
Regard to private profit.
'Tis interest calls off all her sneaking train.
4.
Premium paid for the use of money; the profit per cent derived from money lent, or property used by another person, or from debts remaining unpaid. Commercial states have a legal rate of interest. Debts on book bear an interest after the expiration of the credit. Courts allow interest in many cases where it is not stipulated. A higher rate of interest than that which the law allows, is called usury.
Simple interest is that which arises from the principal sum only.
Compound interest is that which arises from the principal with the interest added; interest on interest.
5.
Any surplus advantage.
With all speed,
you shall have your desire with interest.

Definition 2024

interest

interest

English

Alternative forms

Noun

interest ‎(usually uncountable, plural interests)

  1. (uncountable, finance) The price paid for obtaining, or price received for providing, money or goods in a credit transaction, calculated as a fraction of the amount or value of what was borrowed. [from earlier 16th c.]
    Our bank offers borrowers an annual interest of 5%.‎
  2. (uncountable) A great attention and concern from someone or something; intellectual curiosity. [from later 18th c.]
    He has a lot of interest in vintage cars.‎
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 10, in The Celebrity:
      The skipper Mr. Cooke had hired at Far Harbor was a God-fearing man with a luke warm interest in his new billet and employer, and had only been prevailed upon to take charge of the yacht after the offer of an emolument equal to half a year's sea pay of an ensign in the navy.
    • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 1, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
      Thinks I to myself, “Sol, you're run off your course again. This is a rich man's summer ‘cottage’ and if you don't look out there's likely to be some nice, lively dog taking an interest in your underpinning.”
  3. (uncountable) Attention that is given to or received from someone or something.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 7, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      […] St. Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London. Close-packed, crushed by the buttressed height of the railway viaduct, rendered airless by huge walls of factories, it at once banished lively interest from a stranger's mind and left only a dull oppression of the spirit.
    • 2013 August 10, “Standing orders”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:
      Over the past few years, however, interest has waxed again. A series of epidemiological studies, none big enough to be probative, but all pointing in the same direction, persuaded Emma Wilmot of the University of Leicester, in Britain, to carry out a meta-analysis. This is a technique that combines diverse studies in a statistically meaningful way.
    • 2013 June 21, Chico Harlan, “Japan pockets the subsidy […]”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 30:
      Across Japan, technology companies and private investors are racing to install devices that until recently they had little interest in: solar panels. Massive solar parks are popping up as part of a rapid build-up that one developer likened to an "explosion."
  4. (countable) An involvement, claim, right, share, stake in or link with a financial, business, or other undertaking or endeavor.
    When scientists and doctors write articles and when politicians run for office, they are required in many countries to declare any existing conflicts of interest.‎
    I have business interests in South Africa.‎
  5. (countable) Something one is interested in.
    Lexicography is one of my interests.‎
    Victorian furniture is an interest of mine.‎
  6. (obsolete, rare) Injury, or compensation for injury; damages.
    • 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essayes, London: Edward Blount, OCLC 946730821, II.12:
      How can this infinite beauty, power and goodnes admit any correspondencie or similitude with a thing so base and abject as we are, without extreme interest and manifest derogation from his divine greatnesse?
  7. (chiefly in the plural) The persons interested in any particular business or measure, taken collectively.
    the iron interest;  the cotton interest‎

Synonyms

  • (fraction of the amount or value of what was borrowed): cost of money

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

interest ‎(third-person singular simple present interests, present participle interesting, simple past and past participle interested)

  1. To engage the attention of; to awaken interest in; to excite emotion or passion in, in behalf of a person or thing.
    It might interest you to learn that others have already tried that approach.
    Action films don't really interest me.
  2. (obsolete, often impersonal) To be concerned with or engaged in; to affect; to concern; to excite.
    • Ford
      Or rather, gracious sir, / Create me to this glory, since my cause / Doth interest this fair quarrel.
  3. (obsolete) To cause or permit to share.
    • Hooker
      The mystical communion of all faithful men is such as maketh every one to be interested in those precious blessings which any one of them receiveth at God's hands.

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: story · deep · meet · #472: interest · brother · I've · longer

Anagrams

Dutch

Pronunciation

Noun

interest m ‎(plural interesten, diminutive interestje n)

  1. (finance) interest

Synonyms

Latin

Verb

interest

  1. third-person singular present active indicative of intersum

References

Middle French

Noun

interest m (plural interests)

  1. interest (great attention and concern from someone or something)

Etymology

From Old French interesse and interest (French: intérêt), from Medieval Latin interesse, from Latin interesse.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈɪntɹɪst/, /ˈɪntɹɛst/, /-təɹ-/
  • Hyphenation: in‧ter‧est

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