interest

noun

(uncountable) A great attention and concern from someone or something; intellectual curiosity.

(countable) An involvement, claim, right, share, stake in or link with a financial, business, or other undertaking or endeavor.

(countable) Something which, or someone whom, one is interested in.

(uncountable) Attention that is given to or received from someone or something.

(uncountable) Condition or quality of exciting concern or being of importance.

(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.

(uncountable, finance) Any excess over and above an exact equivalent

(often in the plural) The persons and companies interested in any particular business or measure, taken collectively.

(historical, usually attributive) A genre of factual short films, generally more amusing than informative, especially those not covered by a more specific genre label.

(obsolete, rare) Injury, or compensation for injury; damages.

verb

To engage the attention of; to awaken interest in; to excite emotion or passion in, in behalf of a person or thing.

(obsolete, often impersonal) To be concerned with or engaged in; to affect; to concern; to excite.

(obsolete) To cause or permit to share.

Roots

interinter- · Latin · between, within sum-est · Latin · be

Synonyms for interest

concernn involvementn staken concernmentn pastimen curiosityn fascinationn inquisitivenessn usuryn curiousnessn dividendsn profitn

Synonyms & related words for interest

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of interest — including concern, involvement, stake, concernment, pastime, curiosity. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to interest

Explore words related to interest — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include overinterest, piquing, piqued, piques, disinterest, loans, interestedly, enthusiasms. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for interest

Common synonyms for interest include concern, involvement, stake, concernment, pastime, curiosity, fascination, inquisitiveness — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does interest come from?

The word interest breaks down into 2 roots of Latin origin: inter-, from Latin inter (“between, within”); and -est, from Latin sum (“be”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.