Etymologically
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dividend

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈdɪvɪdɛnd/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Anglo-Norman dividende,[2][3][4] from Latin dīvidendum (“thing to be divided”), the neuter gerundive of dīvidō (“to divide”).[5][6][7] Barnhart calls the French form Middle French.[5] Early English forms were often divident, and the spelling was conformed to the Latin in the 17th century.[4] The AHD explains dividend as an alteration, influenced by French, of Middle English divident, from dīvidēns, the present participle of the Latin verb;[8] Barnhart treats divident (before 1425, "a divider") as an earlier, separate borrowing that dividend replaced by the late 1600s.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A portion or share of something divided, 1477, in Thomas Norton's Ordinall of Alchimy.[4][2] Etymonline dates divident "that which serves as a barrier" to the early 15th century.[6]

Semantic evolution

In arithmetic, the number to be divided, it is recorded in 1543 by the OED, in Robert Recorde,[4] and in 1557 by Barnhart.[5] In 1623 it named a sum of money to be shared out, such as the profits of a company,[4][5] and the OED dates a shareholder's individual portion of it to 1690.[4] Johnson (1755) defined it as "a share; the part allotted in division".[9] A winner's share of a football pool is a dividend from 1929.[4] Figuratively, it is any extra gain or benefit.[8]

Timeline

  • 1477 – a share or portion.[4]
  • 1535 – the act of dividing (obsolete by 1726).[4]
  • 1543 – the number to be divided (OED); Barnhart has 1557.[4][5]
  • 1623 – a sum to be shared out as profit or interest.[4][5]
  • 1690 – a shareholder's individual share.[4]
  • 1929 – a share of a football pool.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (mathematics) A number or quantity to be divided by another, the divisor.
  2. A share of a company's profits paid to its shareholders.
  3. A payment to the creditors of a bankrupt.
  4. (British) A winner's share of a football pool.
  5. An extra or unexpected benefit; a bonus.

Word family

  • dividendless
  • ex dividend
  • cum dividend
  • peace dividend

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.