yield
YEELD
/jiːld/
The financial return or earnings generated on an investment; or to produce/provide a crop or result.
In economics, focuses strictly on the percentage rate of income returned from capital, such as bond interest.
The story behind the word. In Anglo-Saxon England, gieldan meant paying taxes or rendering a debt. If you owed the king money, you had to yield your payment. Over time, the word shifted from paying taxes to describing what land 'pays back' to a farmer in wheat, and finally to what bonds pay back to an investor in cash interest.
Word relationships
- return: 'Return' includes capital gains plus income, whereas 'yield' specifically measures periodic cash income relative to price.
- harvest: 'Harvest' refers to gathered crops, while 'yield' can mean return per acre or financial interest rate.
- loss: A reduction in financial value or negative return on capital.
Commonly confused with
- revenue: Revenue is total gross cash taken in, whereas yield is the percentage rate of return on invested capital.
Word family
- yielding (adjective): Giving a specified financial return, or compliant.
- unyielding (adjective): Not giving way or failing to produce return.
Collocations
- bond yield
- high yield
- yield curve
- dividend yield
Idioms & expressions
- yield results
- yield fruit
Example sentences
- "Investors moved capital into government bonds as benchmark 10-year Treasury yields rose sharply." Bond markets (Wall Street Journal)
- "The dividend yield on energy stocks attracted conservative investors seeking steady income." Corporate investment
Memory hook
YIELD is what your money PAYS back to you annually like a field yielding crops. The percentage return paid back on capital.
When not to use
Do not confuse financial noun 'yield' with total volume produced ('output'); yield measures efficiency or return percentage.
Fun facts
- The word 'guild' (an association of craftsmen) comes from the same root (geldan), as members paid dues into a shared pool!
Also appears in
- Leadership → Submission & Obedience
- Conflict → Compromise & Concession
- Finance → Investment & Portfolio Management
- Finance → Stocks, Bonds & Derivatives
- Nature → Forestry & Agriculture
- Economic Theory & Analysis → Monetary Policy & Central Banks
- Economic Theory & Analysis → Agrarian Economics
- Environmental Policy & Sustainability Economics → Sustainable Agriculture & Farming
- Food Science & Culinary Craft → Agricultural Supply Chains
- Food Science & Culinary Craft → Genetically Modified Organisms
- Everyday Transportation & Driving → Driving Maneuvers & Parking
- Everyday Transportation & Driving → Driver Licensing & Rules
- Agriculture & Farming → Crop Harvesting & Storage
- Agriculture & Farming → Orchards & Viticulture
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