English 'dividend' comes from Latin 'dīvidendum' (the thing to be divided), the gerundive of 'dīvidere' (to divide), from PIE *h₁weydʰ- (to separate) — literally 'the profit that must be split up,' and the same root for separation produced 'widow' (the one separated from her spouse).
A sum of money paid regularly by a company to its shareholders out of its profits; a benefit from an action or policy.
From Latin 'dīvidendum' (the thing that must be divided, the thing to be shared out among parties), the neuter gerundive of 'dīvidere' (to divide, to separate, to distribute into parts, to share out). In Latin grammar, the gerundive '-endum' indicated necessity or obligation: 'dīvidendum' is specifically 'that which must be divided,' not merely 'that which is divided.' The verb 'dīvidere' is compounded from 'dis-' (apart, in different directions) and *videre (to separate), possibly related to 'viduus' (bereft, widowed, deprived of), from PIE *h₁weydʰ- (to separate, to divide, to be set apart) — the same root that gives English 'widow' (one permanently separated from a spouse) and 'with-out' (separated from). The word entered English in the 15th century in mathematical contexts (the
'Dividend' and 'widow' share a root. Latin 'dīvidere' (to divide, to separate) is related to 'viduus' (separated, bereft, widowed), both from PIE *h₁weydʰ- (to separate). A widow is 'the separated one' — separated from her spouse. A dividend is 'the thing to be separated' — profit separated into shares. Grief and gain share an etymology of separation.