Definition of interest

• n. - To engage the attention of; to awaken interest in; to excite emotion or passion in, in behalf of a person or thing; as, the subject did not interest him; to interest one in charitable work.
• n. - To be concerned with or engaged in; to affect; to concern; to excite; -- often used impersonally.
• n. - To cause or permit to share.
• n. - Excitement of feeling, whether pleasant or painful, accompanying special attention to some object; concern.
• n. - Participation in advantage, profit, and responsibility; share; portion; part; as, an interest in a brewery; he has parted with his interest in the stocks.
• n. - Advantage, personal or general; good, regarded as a selfish benefit; profit; benefit.
• n. - Premium paid for the use of money, -- usually reckoned as a percentage; as, interest at five per cent per annum on ten thousand dollars.
• n. - Any excess of advantage over and above an exact equivalent for what is given or rendered.
• n. - The persons interested in any particular business or measure, taken collectively; as, the iron interest; the cotton interest.