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earn

verb · noun

Simple meaning

To gain through applied effort or work.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

urn
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɝn

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. transitive

    To gain (success, reward, recognition) through applied effort or work.

  2. transitive

    To receive payment for work or for a role or position held (regardless of whether effort was applied or whether the remuneration is deserved or commensurate).

  3. transitive

    To cause (someone) to receive payment or reward.

  4. transitive

    To achieve by being worthy of.

noun

  1. A sea eagle (Haliaeetus), especially the white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla)

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A2 · Elementary (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

earn moneyearn lessearn interest

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • earnedadjectiveInflected form

    Gained or acquired.

  • earnestnounInflected form

    Something of value given by one person to another to bind a contract.

  • earnernounInflected form

    Someone who earn wages in return for their labor.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • earned runnounCompound term

    A run that was not scored as the result of an error by the other team.

  • earned run averagenounCompound term

    A measure of a pitcher's effectiveness.

  • earnest moneynounCompound term

    Money given by a buyer to a seller to bind a contract.

  • earning per sharenounCompound term

    The portion of a company's profit allocated to each outstanding share of common stock.

  • pay as you earnnounCompound term

    The British system of withholding tax.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.