PROFIT


Meaning of PROFIT in English

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

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.