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| images of various US dollars |
The word
“interest” came from the Anglo-French term interesse
used during the late 14th century, which translates to “what one has
a legal concern in.” The term in turn came from the Middle Latin word interesse” that is equivalent to
“compensation for loss.” In the mid-15th century, the word was used
to mean, “concern,” “advantage,” “benefit” and even “legal right or claim.”
Later, in the financial sense it became the term to define “the money that is
paid for the use of the money that was lent.”
So in the
“interest” of knowing where these common present-day money, banking and finance
terms originated, let us trace their history of origin, since some of them may
sound Greek, er, Latin, I mean, to you.
The
language of finance and insurance is filled with many terms that may sound
intimidating to some, while it translates to dollars and cents to others. What
is interesting to note is that many of these terms and words used often have
quite a unique etymology.
