profit

(prŏf'ĭt) pronunciation
n.
  1. An advantageous gain or return; benefit.
  2. The return received on a business undertaking after all operating expenses have been met.
    1. The return received on an investment after all charges have been paid. Often used in the plural.
    2. The rate of increase in the net worth of a business enterprise in a given accounting period.
    3. Income received from investments or property.
    4. The amount received for a commodity or service in excess of the original cost.

v., -it·ed, -it·ing, -its.

v.intr.
  1. To make a gain or profit.
  2. To derive advantage; benefit: profiting from the other team's mistakes. See synonyms at benefit.
v.tr.
To be beneficial to.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin prōfectus, from past participle of prōficere, make progress, to profit : prō-, forward; see pro-1 + facere, to make.]

profitless prof'it·less adj.


In business usage, the excess of total revenue over total cost during a specific period of time. In economics, profit is the excess over the returns to capital, land, and labour. Since these resources are measured by their opportunity costs, economic profit can be negative. There are various sources of profit: an innovator who introduces a new production technique can earn entrepreneurial profits; changes in consumer tastes may bring some firms windfall profits; or a firm may restrict output to prevent prices from falling to the level of costs (monopoly profit).

For more information on profit, visit Britannica.com.

Organization in which no stockholder or trustee shares in profits or losses; usually exists to accomplish some charitable, humanitarian, or educational purpose; also called nonprofit. Such groups are exempt from corporate income taxes (except for unrelated business income), and donations to these groups may be tax deductible for the donor. Some examples are hospitals, colleges and universities, and foundations.

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noun

  1. Something beneficial: advantage, avail, benefit, blessing, boon1, favor, gain. See help/harm/harmless.
  2. Something that contributes to or increases one's well-being: advantage, benefit, good, interest (often used in plural). See help/harm/harmless.
  3. Something earned, won, or otherwise acquired: earnings, gain, return. See get/lose, money.
  4. The quality of being suitable or adaptable to an end: account, advantage, avail, benefit, use, usefulness, utility. See used/unused.

verb

  1. To make a large profit: batten. Slang clean up. Idioms: make a killing. See money.
  2. To derive advantage: benefit, capitalize, gain. See help/harm/harmless.
  3. To be an advantage to: advantage, avail, benefit, serve. Archaic boot2. Idioms: stand someone in good stead. See help/harm/harmless.


n

Definition: gain after expenses
Antonyms: loss

Profiteering, a term for making unconscionable or socially destructive profits, especially in times of economic stress and widespread shortages. For example, during the American Revolution speculators profited from fluctuations in paper currency. During the Mexican-American and Civil Wars, profiteers extracted excessive prices from the government for war matériel. During the panic of 1893, J. P. Morgan provided necessary assistance—and made $7.5 million on the deal. Both world wars saw profiteering in munitions, supplies, and commodities. During the 1973–1975 energy crisis, oil corporations reported annual profits ranging up to 800 percent. Governmental and private efforts to control profiteering have encompassed a wide range of techniques, with limited success.

Bibliography

Brandes, Stuart D. Warhogs: A History of War Profits in America. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1997.

The Industrial Reorganization Act, Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Antitrust and Monopoly of the Committee on the Judiciary, 93rd Congress, 1st session.

Profiteering, 65th Congress, 2nd session, Senate Document No.248.

profit, in economics, return on capital, also called earnings, minus the costs of maintaining land, labor, and capital. It is also known as net income. Economic theorists generally make a distinction between two types of profit: normal profit, in which the entrepreneur receives the minimal necessary amount to encourage him to open or stay in a particular business; and excess profit, that which exceeds normal profit. With the development of the corporation, profits are apportioned between dividends to the holders of stock, and investment and depreciation funds in the control of hired managers. Interest paid on loans is usually considered as separate from profit, and is therefore deducted from the net profit. Profit is often considered to be the major incentive for production in a capitalist economy, although with the decline of the entrepreneur and the rise of a salaried managerial class, it has tended to become less personal and more institutional in character. See also profit sharing.

Bibliography

See F. Knight, Risk, Uncertainty, and Profit (1921); M. Obrinsky, Profit Theory and Capitalism (1983); D. C. Mueller, Profits in the Long Run (1986); S.-Y. We Production, Entrepreneurship, and Profits (1988).


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pronunciation

IN BRIEF: Gain of any kind.

pronunciation Many receive advice, but the wise profit from it. — Publilius Syrus (~100 BC)

Tutor's tip: Another word that sounds like "profit' which is a gain of any kind, is "prophet" which is a person who claims to be able to foretell the future.

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

The amount by which income exceeds expenditure.

  • p. sharing — profit sharing between a professional and a lay person is illegal in most countries because it is considered to be improper for a nonveterinarian to have any authority over the quality and style of the work of a professional person.
Random House Word Menu:

categories related to 'profit'

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Random House Word Menu by Stephen Glazier
For a list of words related to profit, see:
  • Economics and Economic Theory - profit: net amount earned after deducting costs in business enterprise
  • Commerce and Trade - profit: amount of sales revenues left for business after paying cost, overhead, taxes, and operating expenses
  • Accounting - profit: revenue earned less expenses incurred


Profit may refer to:

Surname

See also


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Dansk (Danish)
n. - fordel, fortjeneste
v. intr. - gavne
v. tr. - gavne

idioms:

  • profit margin    profitmargen
  • profit sharing    udbyttedeling
  • profit taking    gevinstrealisering

Nederlands (Dutch)
winst, profijt, nut, voordeel hebben van, verdienen aan

Français (French)
n. - (Comm) bénéfice, profit, (fig) profit, avantage
v. intr. - tirer profit de qch
v. tr. - profiter à

idioms:

  • profit margin    marge bénéficiaire
  • profit sharing    intéressement des salariés aux bénéfices
  • profit taking    prise de bénéfices

Deutsch (German)
n. - Gewinn, Vorteil, Nutzen
v. - profitieren, von Nutzen sein

idioms:

  • profit margin    Gewinnspanne
  • profit sharing    Gewinnbeteiligung
  • profit taking    Gewinnmitnahme

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (οικον., μτφ.) κέρδος, όφελος, ωφέλεια
v. - κερδίζω, (επ)ωφελούμαι

idioms:

  • profit margin    (οικον.) περιθώριο κέρδους
  • profit sharing    (οικον.) συμμετοχή στα κέρδη (επιχείρησης)
  • profit taking    (οικον.) πώληση μετοχής με σκοπό την αποκόμιση των πραγματοποιηθέντων κερδών

Italiano (Italian)
profitto, guadagno, guadagnare

idioms:

  • profit margin    margine di profitto
  • profit sharing    partecipazione agli utili
  • profit taking    presa di beneficio

Português (Portuguese)
n. - lucro (m)
v. - lucrar, aproveitar

idioms:

  • profit margin    margem de lucro
  • profit sharing    divisão dos lucros
  • profit taking    fins lucrativos

Русский (Russian)
прибыль, доход, польза, извлекать пользу, приносить пользу

idioms:

  • profit margin    торговая наценка, чистый доход, доля прибыли в добавленной стоимости
  • profit sharing    участие в прибыли
  • profit taking    получение прибыли

Español (Spanish)
n. - provecho, beneficio, ganancias
v. intr. - sacar provecho, aprovecharse, sacar partido o utilidad
v. tr. - servir a, aprovechar a, ganar

idioms:

  • profit margin    margen de beneficio
  • profit sharing    participación en los beneficios
  • profit taking    realización de beneficios

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - vinst, förtjänst, utbyte, nytta, behållning
v. - dra nytta av, vara till nytta, (för)tjäna på, gagna

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
利润, 利益, 赢利, 有益, 赚钱, 获利, 有益于

idioms:

  • profit margin    利润之百分比, 利润率
  • profit sharing    分红制
  • profit taking    获利完成

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 利潤, 利益, 贏利
v. intr. - 有益, 賺錢, 獲利
v. tr. - 有益於

idioms:

  • profit margin    利潤之百分比, 利潤率
  • profit sharing    分紅制
  • profit taking    獲利完成

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 이익, 수익
v. intr. - 이익을 보다, 소득을 얻다
v. tr. - ~에의 이익이 되다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 収益, 儲け, 利益, 利潤, 利得, 利益率, 得
v. - 利益を得る, 得をする, 利益になる, 役に立つ

idioms:

  • profit margin    利潤差額
  • profit sharing    利益分配
  • profit taking    利食い

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) فائدة, ربح, منفعه (فعل) يحصل على أرباح‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮רווח, תועלת, יתרון, טובה‬
v. intr. - ‮הפיק רווח‬
v. tr. - ‮הצמיח תועלת‬


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