List of Latin legal terms

Ever wondered why 'interest' means 'to be between'?

Imagine you're lending money to a friend and they promise to pay you back with extra money as thanks. Why does this extra money matter?

The extra money, or 'interest', represents the value of your time and money being 'between' you and your friend. It's a way to acknowledge that your resources are temporarily 'between' you and them.

Example

If you lend 100 and your friend promises to pay back 105, the extra $5 is the interest.

Remember this

Interest compensates you for the time your money is not available to you.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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