Word of the Week – Interest

It can be so fascinating to look at the history of incredibly common words. And the history of interest is definitely, well…interesting. 😉

When we think about our common uses of the word today, we probably think first of the meaning “a feeling that accompanies or causes special attention to something or someone.” According to Merriam-Webster, that is the first definition. Second is “advantage, benefit” (think self-interest). Then comes “a charge for borrowed money.” And finally, “right, title, or legal share in something.”

Well, when looking at the history of the word, reverse the order of those definitions. Interest joined English in the mid-1400s, coming to us from French to mean “a claim or legal right.” The French word actually meant “claim or legal harm,” and it in turn came from the Latin word of the same spelling, which means “it is important, it makes a difference.”

So the first meaning of interest was the legal one. Then came the financial meaning, around 1520, then “advantage” around 1620, and our current first meaning of “feeling of curiosity or that something is of concern” didn’t come around until–get this–the 1770s! Who knew it was that recent?!

These are of course for the noun uses, but the verb and adjective variations evolved similarly. Interesting, huh?

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