Glossary & Definitions
Master the math behind your life. Browse our comprehensive dictionary of financial, health, and business terms to understand the formulas powering our calculators.
Finance
Understand the core concepts of banking, mortgages, and investments.
Annual Percentage Rate (APR)
The total yearly cost of borrowing money, including the interest rate and any fees.
Annual Percentage Yield (APY)
The real rate of return earned on an investment in a year, taking into account the effect of compounding interest.
Amortization
The process of spreading out a loan into a series of fixed payments over time.
Compound Interest
Interest calculated on the initial principal, which also includes all of the accumulated interest of previous periods.
Debt-to-Income Ratio (DTI)
The percentage of your gross monthly income that goes toward paying your monthly debt payments.
Health
Learn the science and metrics behind metabolism, body composition, and nutrition.
Body Mass Index (BMI)
A medical screening tool that measures the ratio of your weight to your height to estimate total body fat.
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
The number of calories your body burns at rest just to perform basic life-sustaining functions.
Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE)
An estimation of how many calories you burn per day when exercise and daily activity are taken into account.
Calorie Deficit
A state where you consume fewer calories than your body burns, resulting in weight loss.
Macronutrients (Macros)
The three primary categories of nutrients you consume in large amounts that provide your body with energy: proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.
Business
Master the fundamental ratios and equations for running a profitable business.
Profit Margin
A financial ratio showing the percentage of sales that has turned into profits after costs.
Markup
The amount added to the cost price of goods to cover overhead and create a profit.
Invoice
A time-stamped commercial document that itemizes and records a transaction between a buyer and a seller.
Sales Tax
A consumption tax imposed by the government on the sale of goods and services, collected by the retailer and passed to the state.
Hourly Rate
The amount of money charged, paid, or earned for every hour worked.
General
Brush up on universal mathematical concepts, conversions, and relationships.
Percentage
A number or ratio expressed as a fraction of 100.
Average (Mean)
A single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, calculated by dividing the sum of the values by the number of values.
Ratio
A mathematical relationship comparing the quantities of two different things.
Conversion
The process of changing a value or expression from one form, unit, or system to another without changing its size or amount.
Duration
The measurable length of time that something continues or exists between a start and end point.