From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdividenddiv‧i‧dend /ˈdɪvədənd, -dend/ noun [countable] 1 BFSa part of a company’s profit that is divided among the people with shares in the company2 British EnglishDGG prize money offered in a national competition called the football pools which people can win by correctly guessing the results of football games3 HMN technical a number that is to be divided by another number4 → pay/bring dividends
Examples from the Corpus
dividend• Final dividend on shares is held at 2.25p, reflecting the upturn in business in recent months.• Profits reinvested in the corporation are available to finance future growth of the corporation or to pay future dividends.• Capital gains, dividends and other unearned income would not be taxed.• Most firms appear to have a target payout ratio of dividends to long-run reported earnings.• For equity funds, the final column provides 52-week returns based on market prices plus dividends.• These societies would have the duty of distributing the dividends from the shares on either a universal or a restricted basis.• The dividend will be payable on June 10 to shareholders of record on May 29.From Longman Business Dictionarydividenddiv‧i‧dend /ˈdɪvədənd, -dend/ written abbreviation d noun [countable]1FINANCE a part of the profits of a company for a particular period of time that is paid to shareholders for each share that they ownThe group raised its regular dividend on common shares 19% to 25 cents.Consolidated Press forecasts a dividend of 29.8 cents a share.2FINANCE a fixed rate of interest that is paid on certain types of company STOCKIf Ford common stock remains depressed, they will still collect an 8.4% dividend on the preferred stock.3INSURANCE a part of the profits of a LIFE INSURANCE company paid out to those who have insurance agreements with the companyHolders of some types of policies, such as whole life, may see increases in their dividends.4FINANCE omit/pass/suspend a dividend to decide not to pay a dividend, usually because of bad financial resultsPoor profitability forced the Japanese airline to pass its dividend for the sixth year running.The board voted to omit the dividend. → see also ex dividend under ex1Origin dividend (1400-1500) Latin dividendum “thing to be divided”, from dividere; → DIVIDE1 