Compound interest (or compounding interest) is interest calculated on the initial principal and also on the accumulated interest of previous periods of a deposit or loan.
复利是一种计算本金以及前期贷款或存款累计利息的计息方式、
Thought to have originated in 17th-century Italy, compound interest can be thought of as “interest on interest,” and will make a sum grow at a faster rate than simple interest, which is calculated only on the principal amount.
复利起源于17世纪的意大利，被认为是利滚利，并且比单纯以本金为基础计算的单利的总额有着更快的增长速度。
The rate at which compound interest accrues depends on the frequency of compounding; the higher the number of compounding periods, the greater the compound interest.
复利的应付利率由其支付的频率所决定，复合的期数越多，复利的数值也越大。
Thus, the amount of compound interest accrued on $100 compounded at 10% annually will be lower than that on $100 compounded at 5% semi-annually over the same time period.
因此，10%年利率，按年付息的复利要比利率为5%，半年付息的数值要小。
