I. ˈpräfə̇t, usu -ə̇d.+V noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin profectus advance, progress, profit, success, from profectus, past participle of proficere to go forward, make progress — more at proficient
1. : an advantage, benefit, accession of good, gain, or valuable return especially in financial matters, education, or character development
found moral profit also in this self-study — L.P.Smith
reading with profit and delight — Havelock Ellis
2. : the excess of returns over expenditure in a transaction or series of transactions: as
a. : the excess of the price received over the price paid for goods sold — opposed to loss
b. : the excess of the price received over the cost of purchasing and handling or of producing and marketing goods
3.
a.
(1) : net income (as in a business) usually for a given period of time
(2) : a benefit or advantage accruing from the management, use, or sale of property, from the carrying on of any process of production, or from the conduct of business
b. : the income of invested property not including an appreciation in market value
4. : the ratio of profit for a given year to the amount of capital invested or to the value of sales
5.
a. : the distributive share or compensation accruing to entrepreneurs for the assumption of risk in business enterprise
b. : entrepreneurial or employer income as distinguished from wages or rent
6. : profit a prendre
Synonyms: see use
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English profiten, from Middle French profiter, from profit
intransitive verb
1. : to make progress : become proficient : advance , improve
morale, always a problem … has profited greatly — Greg MacGregor
2. : to be of service or advantage : aid , further
nothing profits like an inquiring mind
3. : to take advantage : make good use : derive benefit : gain — usually used with by or from
everyone should get as much liberal education as he can … absorb and profit by — Cormac Philip
would profit greatly from a more painstaking examination of manuscripts — E.S.McCartney
transitive verb
: to be of service to : advantage , aid , benefit
do not think we should profit ourselves well if we tarried … to examine and dissect — Sir Winston Churchill
hurry by and disregard what does not seem to profit our own existence — Laurence Binyon