profit

See also: Profit

English

Alternative forms

• ꝓfit (abbreviation, obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English profit, from Old French profit (Modern French profit), from Latin prōfectus (“advance, progress, growth, increase, profit”), from proficiō (“to go forward, advance, make progress, be profitable or useful”). Doublet of profect.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: prŏfʹit, IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɒfɪt/
• (General American) enPR: prŏfʹit, IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɑfɪt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Homophone: prophet
• Rhymes: -ɒfɪt
• Hyphenation: prof‧it

Noun

profit (countable and uncountable, plural profits)

1. (accounting, economics) 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.
   • 1750 Oct. 2, Samuel Johnson, The Rambler:

     Let no man anticipate uncertain profits.

   • 1935, Smedley Butler, War Is a Racket, page 1 & 7:

     War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives... Of course, it isn't put that crudely in war time. It is dressed into speeches about patriotism, love of country, and "we must all put our shoulders to the wheel," but the profits jump and leap and skyrocket—and are safely pocketed.

   • 2013 June 22, “T time”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 68:

     The ability to shift profits to low-tax countries by locating intellectual property in them, which is then licensed to related businesses in high-tax countries, is often assumed to be the preserve of high-tech companies. […] current tax rules make it easy for all sorts of firms to generate […] “stateless income”: profit subject to tax in a jurisdiction that is neither the location of the factors of production that generate the income nor where the parent firm is domiciled.

2. (dated, literary) Benefit, positive result obtained.

   Reading such an enlightening book on the subject was of much profit to his studies.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Corinthians vii:35:

     This I speak for your own profit.

   • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:

     if you dare do yourself a profit and a right

4. (property law) Ellipsis of profit à prendre.

Usage notes

Regarding the income sense, when the difference is negative, the term loss is preferred. Negative profit does appear in microeconomics. Profit by a government agency is called a surplus.

Synonyms

• gain

Antonyms

• loss

Derived terms

• accounting profit
• at a profit
• for-profit
• gross profit
• net profit
• non-profit
• non-profit-making
• normal profit
• profit and loss
• profit a prendre
• profit-à-prendre
• profit center
• profit centre
• profit monger
• profit motive
• profit share
• profit-taking
• profit warning
• sales profit
• supernormal profit
• turn a profit

 

Translations

benefit

• Albanian: fitim (sq) m
• Arabic: رِبْح (ar) m (ribḥ), مَكْسَب m (maksab), فَائِدَة f (fāʔida), نَفْع m (nafʕ)
• Armenian: շահույթ (hy) (šahuytʿ)
• Avar: пайда (pajda)
• Azerbaijani: mənfəət (az), fayda (az), qazanc
• Belarusian: прыбы́так m (prybýtak), кары́сць f (karýscʹ), вы́гада f (výhada), выго́да f (vyhóda)
• Bengali: লাভ (bn) (labh)
• Bulgarian: печа́лба (bg) f (pečálba), по́лза (bg) f (pólza), изго́да (bg) f (izgóda)
• Burmese: အမြတ် (my) (a.mrat), အကျိုးကျေးဇူး (my) (a.kyui:kye:ju:)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 贏利／赢利 (zh) (yínglì), 利潤／利润 (zh) (lìrùn), 利益 (zh) (lìyì)

• Czech: zisk (cs) m, prospěch (cs) m
• Danish: overskud (da) n, fortjeneste c, profit (da) c
• Dutch: profijt (nl) n, winst (nl) f
• Esperanto: profito
• Estonian: kasum
• Ewe: viɖe
• Finnish: tuotto (fi), etu (fi), hyöty (fi)
• French: profit (fr) m, gain (fr) m, bénéfice (fr) m
• Galician: beneficio (gl) m, proveito (gl) m, prol (gl) f, ganancia (gl) f, logro m
• German: Gewinn (de) m, Profit (de) m
• Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌺𐌹 n (gawaurki)
• Greek: κέρδος (el) n (kérdos), όφελος (el) n (ófelos)

  Ancient: κέρδος n (kérdos)

• Hebrew: תְּשׂוּאָה (he) f (tsu'á), רווח / רֶוַח (he) m (revákh)
• Hindi: लाभ (hi) m (lābh), फ़ायदा m (fāydā)
• Hungarian: haszon (hu), profit (hu)
• Icelandic: hagnaður (is) m
• Indonesian: faedah (id), keuntungan (id)
• Italian: profitto (it) m, lucro (it) m, profit (it) m
• Japanese: 利益 (ja) (りえき, rieki), 利潤 (ja) (りじゅん, rijun)
• Kazakh: пайда (kk) (paida), кіріс (kırıs), түсім (tüsım)
• Khmer: ចំណេញ (km) (cɑmnəñ)
• Korean: 이익(利益) (ko) (iik), 리익(利益) (ko) (riik) (North Korea), 이윤(利潤) (ko) (iyun), 리윤(利潤) (ko) (riyun) (North Korea)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: قازانج (ckb) (qazanc)

  Northern Kurdish: fayîde (ku), feyde (ku)

• Kyrgyz: пайда (ky) (payda), киреше (ky) (kireşe)
• Lao: ກຳໄລ (lo) (kam lai)
• Latin: lucrum (la) n, fructus (la) m, quaestus m
• Latvian: peļņa f
• Lithuanian: pelnas m
• Macedonian: заработка f (zarabotka), добивка f (dobivka), профит m (profit)
• Malay: faedah, keuntungan (ms)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: ашиг (mn) (ašig), орлого (mn) (orlogo)

  Mongolian: ᠠᠰᠢᠭ (asig), ᠣᠷᠤᠯᠭ᠎ᠠ (orulg-a)

• Norman: profit m (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: profitt m, gevinst m

• Ottoman Turkish: فائده (faʼide)
• Pashto: فايده (ps) f (fāyda), سود (ps) m (sud), نفع (ps) m (nafa')
• Persian: فایده (fa) (fâyede), سود (fa) (sud), نفع (fa) (naf')
• Polish: zysk (pl) m, korzyść (pl) f, profit (pl) m
• Portuguese: proveito (pt) m, lucro (pt) m
• Romanian: câștig (ro) n, profit (ro) f
• Russian: при́быль (ru) f (príbylʹ), вы́года (ru) f (výgoda), дохо́д (ru) m (doxód), нажи́ва (ru) f (nažíva), по́льза (ru) (pólʹza), (obsolete) профи́т (ru) m (profít)
• Sanskrit: ⦃⦃t+¦sa¦उदय¦m¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦⦄⦄
• Scottish Gaelic: math m, prothaid f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: про̀фӣт m, до̏бӣт m

  Roman: pròfīt (sh) m, dȍbīt (sh) m

• Sicilian: guadagnu (scn) m, vadagnu (scn) m, lucru (scn) m, binificiu m, benefit m, prufittu m, profit m
• Slovak: zisk m, prospech m
• Slovene: profit m, dobiček m
• Spanish: ganancia (es) f, beneficio (es) m
• Swahili: dahili (sw), faida (sw)
• Swedish: vinst (sv) c, förtjänst (sv) c
• Tajik: фоида (tg) (foyida), суд (sud), нафъ (nafʾ)
• Tamil: இலாபம் (ta) (ilāpam)
• Tatar: табыш (tt) (tabış)
• Telugu: లాభము (te) (lābhamu)
• Thai: กำไร (th) (gam-rai)
• Tocharian B: kallau
• Turkish: kazanç (tr), fayda (tr)
• Turkmen: girdeji
• Ukrainian: прибу́ток (uk) m (prybútok), ви́года f (výhoda), кори́сть (uk) f (korýstʹ), зиск m (zysk)
• Urdu: فایدہ m (fāyda), فائدہ m (fāida)
• Uyghur: پايدا (ug) (payda)
• Uzbek: foyda (uz)
• Vietnamese: lợi nhuận (vi), lời (vi)
• Zazaki: fayde

total income or cash flow minus expenditures

• Azerbaijani: mənfəət (az), qazanc
• Bulgarian: печа́лба (bg) f (pečálba), до́ход (bg) m (dóhod)
• Catalan: benefici (ca) m
• Danish: overskud (da) n
• Finnish: voitto (fi), netto (fi), tulos (fi)
• French: bénéfice (fr) m
• Galician: beneficio (gl) m
• Georgian: მოგება (mogeba)
• German: Gewinn (de) m
• Greek: κέρδος (el) n (kérdos)

  Ancient Greek: κέρδος n (kérdos)

• Hungarian: nyereség (hu)
• Irish: brabús m, brabach m
• Italian: profitto (it) m, guadagno (it) m, provento (it) m
• Latin: fructus (la)
• Malay: untung (ms)
• Maori: hua (mi)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: gevinst m

  Nynorsk: gevinst m

• Ottoman Turkish: آصی (ası), فائده (faʼide)
• Polish: przychód (pl) m, profit (pl)
• Portuguese: lucro (pt) m, provento (pt) m
• Sicilian: guadagnu (scn) m, vadagnu (scn) m, lucru (scn) m, prufittu m, profit m
• Spanish: beneficio (es) m
• Swahili: faida (sw)
• Swedish: vinst (sv) c, förtjänst (sv) c, bruttovinst c
• Thai: กำไร (th) (gam-rai)
• Turkish: kazanç (tr)
• Ukrainian: прибу́ток (uk) m (prybútok), зиск m (zysk)

Verb

profit (third-person singular simple present profits, present participle profiting, simple past and past participle profited)

1. (transitive) To benefit (somebody), be of use to (somebody).
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Hebrews 4:2:

     The word preached did not profit them.

   • 1695, C[harles] A[lphonse] du Fresnoy, translated by John Dryden, De Arte Graphica. The Art of Painting, […], London: […] J[ohn] Heptinstall for W. Rogers, […], →OCLC:

     It is a great means of profiting yourself, to copy diligently those excellent pieces and beautiful designs.

2. (intransitive, construed with from) To benefit, gain.
3. (intransitive, construed with from) To take advantage of, exploit, use.

Derived terms

• book profit
• for fun and profit
• for-profit
• nonprofit
• not-for-profit
• paper profit
• profitable
• profitably
• profiteer
• profit from
• profit margin
• profit sharing
• profit taking

 

Translations

To benefit, be of use to

• Bulgarian: ползвам (bg) (polzvam)
• Dutch: baten (nl), helpen (nl)
• Finnish: hyödyttää (fi) (+ partitive), olla hyödyksi (+ allative), hyödyntää (fi), hyötyä (fi), olla eduksi (+ allative)
• French: être profitable (fr), servir (fr)
• Galician: aproveitar (gl)
• German: nützen (de), profitieren (de)
• Gothic: 𐌱𐍉𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (bōtjan)
• Greek: ευεργετώ (el) (evergetó)
• Italian: beneficiare (it)
• Macedonian: ко́ристи (kóristi)
• Ngazidja Comorian: ufai

To benefit, gain

• Bulgarian: печеля (bg) (pečelja)
• Dutch: profiteren (nl), baat hebben, voordeel hebben
• Finnish: hyötyä (fi) (+ elative), olla hyödyksi (+ allative)
• French: profiter (fr)
• German: erreichen (de), gewinnen (de)
• Greek: κερδίζω (el) (kerdízo), ωφελούμαι (el) (ofeloúmai)

  Ancient: κερδαίνω (kerdaínō)

• Haitian Creole: pwofite
• Italian: guadagnare (it)
• Latin: lucror
• Macedonian: искори́стува (iskorístuva), ќа́рува (ḱáruva)
• Ottoman Turkish: فائده‌لنمك (faʼidelenmek)
• Polish: korzystać (pl), skorzystać (pl)
• Portuguese: lucrar (pt)

To take advantage of, exploit, use

• Bulgarian: използвам (bg) (izpolzvam)
• Dutch: uitbuiten (nl), profiteren (nl), een slaatje slaan
• Finnish: käyttää hyväkseen, käyttää (fi), hyötyä (fi), riistää (fi)
• Galician: aproveitar (gl)
• German: ausbeuten (de)
• Greek: κερδίζω (el) (kerdízo)
• Italian: trarre profitto, approfittare (it)
• Macedonian: искори́стува (iskorístuva)
• Polish: wyzyskiwać (pl), wyzyskać
• Spanish: explotar (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} profiter (fr)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} profittare (it)
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} beneficiarse (es)
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} లబ్ది పొందు (labdi pondu)
• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} kar (tr)

Related terms

• proficiency
• proficient

Further reading

• “profit”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “profit”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• forpit

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin prōfectus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [pɾuˈfit]
• IPA^(key): (Valencian) [pɾoˈfit]

Noun

profit m (plural profits)

1. benefit, advantage

Derived terms

• aprofitar
• bon profit
• profitós

Further reading

• “profit” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “profit”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “profit” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “profit” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French profit, from Latin prōfectus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pʁɔ.fi/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

profit m (plural profits)

1. profit, benefit

   Il a su tirer profit de ses connaissances.

   He managed to take advantage of his knowledge.

Derived terms

• au profit de
• il n’y a pas de petits profits
• mettre à profit
• tirer profit

 

Further reading

• “profit”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Hungarian

Etymology

Borrowed from German Profit.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈprofit]
• Hyphenation: pro‧fit
• Rhymes: -it

Noun

profit (plural profitok)

1. profit (total income or cash flow minus expenditures)

   Synonyms: haszon, nyereség

Declension

Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	profit	profitok
accusative	profitot	profitokat
dative	profitnak	profitoknak
instrumental	profittal	profitokkal
causal-final	profitért	profitokért
translative	profittá	profitokká
terminative	profitig	profitokig
essive-formal	profitként	profitokként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	profitban	profitokban
superessive	profiton	profitokon
adessive	profitnál	profitoknál
illative	profitba	profitokba
sublative	profitra	profitokra
allative	profithoz	profitokhoz
elative	profitból	profitokból
delative	profitról	profitokról
ablative	profittól	profitoktól
non-attributive possessive - singular	profité	profitoké
non-attributive possessive - plural	profitéi	profitokéi

Possessive forms of profit
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	profitom	profitjaim
2nd person sing.	profitod	profitjaid
3rd person sing.	profitja	profitjai
1st person plural	profitunk	profitjaink
2nd person plural	profitotok	profitjaitok
3rd person plural	profitjuk	profitjaik

Further reading

• profit in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

Norman

Etymology

From Old French profit, from Latin profectus (“advance, progress, growth, increase, profit”).

Noun

profit m (plural profits)

1. (Jersey) profit

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from French profit.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈprɔ.fit/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔfit
• Syllabification: pro‧fit

Noun

profit m inan

1. (literary, accounting, economics) profit (money acquired)

   Synonyms: dochód, przychód

2. (literary) profit (benefit, positive result obtained)

   Synonyms: korzyść, pożytek, zysk

Declension

Declension of profit

	singular	plural
nominative	profit	profity
genitive	profitu	profitów
dative	profitowi	profitom
accusative	profit	profity
instrumental	profitem	profitami
locative	proficie	profitach
vocative	proficie	profity

Related terms

adjective

• non profit

 

Further reading

• profit in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• profit in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814) “profit”, in Słownik języka polskiego‎^[1]
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “profit”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861‎^[2]
• A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1908), “profit”, in Słownik języka polskiego‎^[3] (in Polish), volume 4, Warsaw, page 1009
• profit in Narodowy Fotokorpus Języka Polskiego

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French profit.

Noun

profit n (plural profituri)

1. profit

Declension

Declension of profit

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) profit	profitul	(niște) profituri	profiturile
genitive/dative	(unui) profit	profitului	(unor) profituri	profiturilor
vocative	profitule		profiturilor

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /prǒfiːt/
• Hyphenation: pro‧fit

Noun

pròfīt m (Cyrillic spelling про̀фӣт)

1. profit

Declension

Declension of profit

	singular	plural
nominative	pròfīt	profiti
genitive	profíta	profita
dative	profitu	profitima
accusative	profit	profite
vocative	profite	profiti
locative	profitu	profitima
instrumental	profitom	profitima

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish profit, from French profit, from Latin prōficere. Attested since 1487.

Noun

profit c

1. (derogatory) profit, unearned income

Declension

Declension of profit
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	profit	profiten	profiter	profiterna
Genitive	profits	profitens	profiters	profiternas

Related terms

• profitera
• profitör

References

• profit in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• profit in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• profit in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English profit.

Noun

profit

1. profit
2. interest