profit

English Online Dictionary. What means profit‎? What does profit mean?

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, dialects of Canada) enPR: prŏʹfit, IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɑfɪt/
• (Canada, dialects of the US) enPR: prŏfʹit, IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɒfɪt/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɔfɪt/, /ˈpɹɒfɪt/
• 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.
2. (dated, literary) Benefit, positive result obtained.
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

Translations

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

Derived terms

Translations

Related terms

• proficiency
• proficient

Further reading

• “profit”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “profit”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Anagrams

• forpit

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin prōfectus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [pɾuˈfit]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [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, 2025.
• “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/

Noun

profit m (plural profits)

1. profit, benefit

Derived terms

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

References

Further reading

• profit in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (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/
• 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

Related terms

References

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
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “profit”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
• A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1908), “profit”, in Słownik języka polskiego (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

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

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

Noun

pròfīt m (Cyrillic spelling про̀фӣт)

1. profit

Declension

Swedish

Etymology

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

Noun

profit c

1. (derogatory) profit, unearned income

Declension

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