profit
verb · noun
Simple meaning
Total income or cash flow minus expenditures.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
prahfuhtSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpɹɑfət
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.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
intransitiveconstrued with from
To benefit, gain.
Derive a benefit from
“She profited from his vast experience.”
transitive
To benefit (somebody), be of use to (somebody).
intransitiveconstrued with from
To take advantage of, exploit, use.
noun
accountingeconomics
Total income or cash flow minus expenditures. The money or other benefit a non-governmental organization or individual receives in exchange for products and services sold at an advertised price.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (intransitive, construed with from) To benefit, gain.
Used this way, profit is a reasonably familiar word with a mildly favourable edge. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Positive and appreciative
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use profit
- “The company has not profited from the merger.”verb
- “She profited from his vast experience.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
The excess of revenues over outlays in a given period of time (including depreciation and other non-cash expenses).
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Yielding material gain or profit.
In a productive way.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Someone who sells stock shares at a profit.
An account compiled at the end of an accounting period to show gross and net profit or loss.
An account compiled at the end of an accounting period to show gross and net profit or loss.
A financial statement that gives operating results for a specific period.
The ratio gross profits divided by net sales.
A system in which employees receive a share of the net profits of the business.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
The quality of affording gain or benefit or profit.
An organization chartered for other than profit-making activities.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: total income or cash flow minus expenditures. The money
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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.