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investor

investors

An investor is someone who provides (or invests) money or resources for an enterprise, such as a corporation, with the expectation of financial or other gain.

We usually hear about an investor in a business context, but when someone invests things like time or labor in a project or idea they, too, are investors of a sort. The "return on investment" in these cases, however, is often a little less tangible than money. Someone who volunteers to help build houses is an investor in their community. Someone who spends time helping a child with homework is an investor in that child's future.

Definitions of investor
  1. noun
    someone who commits capital in order to gain financial returns
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    types:
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    contrarian
    an investor who deliberately decides to go against the prevailing wisdom of other investors
    bear
    an investor with a pessimistic market outlook; an investor who expects prices to fall and so sells now in order to buy later at a lower price
    bondholder
    a holder of bonds issued by a government or corporation
    bull
    an investor with an optimistic market outlook; an investor who expects prices to rise and so buys now for resale later
    caller
    an investor who buys a call option
    depositor
    a person who has deposited money in a bank or similar institution
    lender, loaner
    someone who lends money or gives credit in business matters
    rentier
    someone whose income is from property rents or bond interest and other investments
    shareholder, shareowner, stockholder
    someone who holds shares of stock in a corporation
    pawnbroker
    a person who lends money at interest in exchange for personal property that is deposited as security
    stockholder of record
    the stockholder whose name is registered on the books of the corporation as owning the shares at a particular time
    loan shark, moneylender, shylock, usurer
    someone who lends money at excessive rates of interest
    withdrawer
    a depositor who withdraws funds previously deposited
    type of:
    capitalist
    a person who invests capital in a business (especially a large business)
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘investor'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
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