Jargon Buster

D

Debt
A sum of money that is owed by a borrower to a lender (e.g. bank loan, credit card). There are different types of debt which are allocated a seniority in terms of which gets paid as priority over the other (see also Senior, Junior, Mezzanine).

Dividend
A regular payment of a company's earnings to its shareholders, determined by the company's board of directors.

Domestic Abuse
An incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening, degrading and violent behaviour, including sexual violence, in the majority of cases by a partner or ex-partner, but also by a family member or carer. It can take many different forms, from financial control to online abuse. In the vast majority of cases, it is experienced by women and is perpetrated by men. 1.6 million women experienced domestic abuse in 2020/21.