investment

Etymology

invest +‎ -ment

Pronunciation

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Noun

investment (countable and uncountable, plural investments)

1. The act of investing, or state of being invested.
2. (finance) A placement of capital in expectation of deriving income or profit from its use or appreciation.
   • A. Hamilton

     An investment in ink, paper, and steel pens.

   • 2013 July 19, Timothy Garton Ash, “Where Dr Pangloss meets Machiavelli”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 18:

     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.

3. That with which anyone is invested; a vestment.
   • William Shakespeare

     Whose white investments figure innocence.

4. (military) The act of surrounding, blocking up, or besieging by an armed force, or the state of being so surrounded.
   • Marshall

     The capitulation was signed by the commander of the fort within six days after its investments.

5. A mixture of silica sand and plaster which, by surrounding a wax pattern, creates a negative mold of the form used for casting, among other metals, bronze.