The noun interesse (“interest”; from the Latin verb interesse, “lie between,” “be of importance,” “make a difference”), first attested c. 1100, goes back to formulations of Roman law that spoke of the compensation that a money lender was permitted to demand of a borrower in return for his own non-utilization of the money or as a value equalization [15]. Subsequently the legal and financial meaning narrowed to interest (German Zins), while in common u…