Dividend

Dividend, the sum falling to be divided among the creditors of a bankrupt from the realised assets, after payment of the expenses. The dividend is reckoned at so much per pound of the claims, and the term is applied both to the whole sum divided and the proportion falling to each creditor (see BANKRUPTCY). The profits of a bank, railway, or other joint-stock company, distributed annually or half-yearly among the shareholders; are also called dividends; and the same term is used to denote the interest payable on the public funds, and sometimes on other loans and debentures.