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Finance Dictionary

Look up a finance term by topic or by letter, read a plain-English definition, and follow links to related ideas in investing, accounting, banking and tax.

This dictionary holds 1,375 finance terms, each on its own page with a plain-English definition. Entries are grouped into topics: Stocks, Portfolio, Economics, Accounting, Corporate Finance, Banking, Personal Finance and Taxes. The number next to each topic is how many terms it holds, from 56 in Taxes to 266 in Economics. Each topic box shows a few common entries, such as the P/E ratio or compound interest, and its “All” link opens the full list. Further down, each topic is laid out alphabetically.

Browse by topic

Stocks158

All 158

Portfolio176

All 176

Economics266

All 266

Accounting148

All 148

Corporate Finance256

All 256

Banking131

All 131

Personal Finance184

All 184

Taxes56

All 56
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Stocks

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Portfolio

176 terms

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Economics

266 terms

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Accounting

148 terms

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Corporate Finance

256 terms

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Banking

131 terms

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Personal Finance

184 terms

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Taxes

56 terms

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All 1,375 terms A–Z

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How to find a term

If you know the broad area, start with the topic boxes at the top. Accounting covers financial statement items like revenue, EBITDA and free cash flow. Corporate Finance holds valuation tools such as discounted cash flow, IRR and WACC. Banking mixes general ideas with named payment services. If you only know the word, scroll to the alphabetical lists, where each topic is split by first letter. Some letters are missing from a topic because no term in it starts with that letter. A few entries are longer explainers rather than short definitions, for example the pages comparing the Dow Jones with the S&P 500 or with the Nasdaq. Terms often build on each other: earnings per share feeds the P/E ratio, and book value feeds book value per share, so reading the simpler entry first usually helps.

Who writes the entries and how they are checked

The dictionary is signed by our Markets & Investing Desk, an editorial team that also covers investing guides, companies, people, economics and market data. Entries are drafted with help from AI language models, then automated checks reject text with unsupported claims or banned phrasing and send it back for rewriting. Each entry shows the team that signs it, the date it was published and the date its text last changed. Those dates move only when the wording changes, not when the site is rebuilt. Where an entry relies on outside material, the sources are listed under “Sources cited on this page”. Our editorial policy explains the rules in full, and you can report a mistake through the corrections page.

What the dictionary is not

Entries here are definitions. They are not reviews, scores or rankings. Some terms name real services, such as PayPal or Venmo in the Banking topic, but those pages explain what the service is and are not ratings of it. Our brand scores and register checks apply to reviewed prop firms, brokers, exchanges and banks, and are described in our methodology. No brand pays to appear in the dictionary, and the site has no affiliate links. Understanding a term like CAGR or ROI does not tell you what to buy. Stocks, funds, CFDs and crypto carry a real risk of loss, and nothing here is financial advice. To work with the numbers behind a term, try our calculators.

FAQ

How many terms are in the dictionary?

There are 1,375 terms in total, spread across topics. Economics is the largest with 266 terms, followed by Corporate Finance with 256. Personal Finance has 184, Portfolio 176, Stocks 158, Accounting 148, Banking 131 and Taxes 56. Each topic has an All link that opens its full list.

Why does the same idea appear under more than one name?

Some concepts are searched for in different ways, so we give closely related forms their own entries, for example Book Value and Book Value per Share, or Dividend Yield and Forward Dividend Yield. Each entry explains its own version of the idea and how it differs from the related one.

Who writes these definitions?

The Markets & Investing Desk, one of our editorial teams, signs the dictionary. Bylines on the site are teams rather than individual names. Text is drafted with help from AI language models and then passes automated checks that reject unsupported claims before the entry is published.

Can I use these definitions to decide what to invest in?

No. The entries explain what terms mean and how figures are calculated, but they do not recommend any product, fund or company. Investing and trading carry a real risk of loss, and you should weigh your own situation or get professional advice before acting on any number you calculate.