Standard Lemma guide

profit

name · noun · verb · 11 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: prŏfʹit
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈpɹɒfɪt/
  • General-American, dialectal: prŏʹfit of Canada
  • General-American, dialectal: /ˈpɹɑfɪt/ of Canada
  • California: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Canada, dialectal: prŏfʹit of the US
  • Canada, dialectal: /ˈpɹɒfɪt/ of the US
  • Australian: /ˈpɹɔfɪt/
  • New-Zealand: /ˈpɹɒfət/
  • New-Zealand: [ˈpɹɔ̟fət]
  • homophone: prophet
  • rhymes with -ɒfɪt
  • CMU ARPABET: P R AA1 F AH0 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: P R AA1 F IH0 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

name

Meaning 1

A surname.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

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.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: accounting, business, economics, finance, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Benefit, positive result obtained.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, dated, literary, uncountable

Examples

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

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Ellipsis of profit à prendre.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable

Topics: law, property

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

verb

Meaning 5

To benefit (somebody), be of use to (somebody).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

verb

Meaning 6

To benefit, gain.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

verb

Meaning 7

To take advantage of, exploit, use.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

the advantageous quality of being beneficial

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: gain

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: advantage, vantage

Narrower terms: account, profitableness, profitability, gainfulness, lucrativeness

9

noun

Meaning 9

the excess of revenues over outlays in a given period of time (including depreciation and other non-cash expenses)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: net income, net, net profit, lucre, profits, earnings

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: income

Narrower terms: earning per share, windfall profit, killing, cleanup, fast buck, quick buck, filthy lucre, gross profit, gross profit margin, margin, markup, accumulation, dividend

10

verb

Meaning 10

make a profit; gain money or materially

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • The company has not profited from the merger

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: turn a profit

Antonyms: break even, lose

Broader terms: gain, take in, clear, make, earn, realize, realise, pull in, bring in

Narrower terms: line one's pockets, turn a nice dime, turn a nice penny, turn a nice dollar, clean up

11

verb

Meaning 11

derive a benefit from

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • She profited from his vast experience

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: gain, benefit

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: get, acquire

Narrower terms: cash in on, profiteer, capitalize, capitalise, take advantage, pyramid, net, sack, sack up, clear

History

Etymology

Variant of Proffitt.

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.

Across languages

Translations

302 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: fitim — benefit
  • Antillean Creole: pwofi — benefit
  • Arabic: رِبْح (ribḥ) — benefit
  • Arabic: مَكْسَب (maksab) — benefit
  • Arabic: فَائِدَة (fāʔida) — benefit
  • Arabic: نَفْع (nafʕ) — benefit
  • Armenian: շահույթ (šahuytʻ) — benefit
  • Avar: пайда (pajda) — benefit
  • Azerbaijani: mənfəət — benefit
  • Azerbaijani: fayda — benefit
  • Azerbaijani: qazanc — benefit
  • Bashkir: файҙа (fayźa) — benefit
  • Belarusian: прыбы́так (prybýtak) — benefit
  • Belarusian: кары́сць (karýscʹ) — benefit
  • Belarusian: кары́сьць (karýsʹcʹ) — benefit
  • Belarusian: вы́гада (výhada) — benefit
  • Belarusian: выго́да (vyhóda) — benefit
  • Bengali: লাভ (labh) — benefit
  • Bengali: সুদ (śud) — benefit
  • Bengali: ফায়দা (phaẏda) — benefit
  • Bulgarian: печа́лба (pečálba) — benefit
  • Bulgarian: по́лза (pólza) — benefit
  • Bulgarian: изго́да (izgóda) — benefit
  • Burmese: အမြတ် (a.mrat) — benefit
  • Burmese: အကျိုးကျေးဇူး (a.kyui:kye:ju:) — benefit
  • Chinese: 利純 /利纯 (zh-min-nan) — benefit
  • Chinese Mandarin: 贏利 /赢利 (yínglì) — benefit
  • Chinese Mandarin: 利潤 /利润 (lìrùn) — benefit
  • Chinese Mandarin: 利益 (lìyì) — benefit
  • Czech: zisk — benefit
  • Czech: prospěch — benefit
  • Danish: overskud — benefit
  • Danish: fortjeneste — benefit
  • Danish: profit — benefit
  • Dutch: profijt — benefit
  • Dutch: winst — benefit
  • Esperanto: profito — benefit
  • Estonian: kasum — benefit
  • Ewe: viɖe — benefit
  • Finnish: tuotto — benefit
  • Finnish: etu — benefit
  • Finnish: hyöty — benefit
  • French: profit — benefit
  • French: gain — benefit
  • French: bénéfice — benefit
  • Galician: beneficio — benefit
  • Galician: proveito — benefit
  • Galician: prol — benefit
  • Galician: ganancia — benefit
  • Galician: logro — benefit
  • German: Gewinn — benefit
  • German: Profit — benefit
  • Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌺𐌹 (gawaurki) — benefit
  • Greek: κέρδος (kérdos) — benefit
  • Greek: όφελος (ófelos) — benefit
  • Ancient Greek: κέρδος (kérdos) — benefit
  • Hebrew: תְּשׂוּאָה (tsu'á) — benefit
  • Hebrew: רווח — benefit
  • Hebrew: רֶוַח (revákh) — benefit
  • Hindi: लाभ (lābh) — benefit
  • Hindi: फ़ायदा (fāydā) — benefit
  • Hindi: सूद (sūd) — benefit
  • Hungarian: haszon — benefit
  • Hungarian: profit — benefit
  • Icelandic: hagnaður — benefit
  • Indonesian: faedah — benefit
  • Indonesian: keuntungan — benefit
  • Italian: profitto — benefit
  • Italian: lucro — benefit
  • Italian: profit — benefit
  • Japanese: 利益 (rieki) — benefit
  • Japanese: 利潤 (rijun) — benefit
  • Kazakh: пайда (paida) — benefit
  • Kazakh: кіріс (kırıs) — benefit
  • Kazakh: түсім (tüsım) — benefit
  • Khmer: ចំណេញ (cɑmnəñ) — benefit
  • Korean: 이익 (iik) — benefit
  • Korean: 리익 (riik) — benefit
  • Korean: 이윤 (iyun) — benefit
  • Korean: 리윤 (riyun) — benefit
  • Central Kurdish: قازانج (qazanc) — benefit
  • Northern Kurdish: fayîde — benefit
  • Northern Kurdish: feyde — benefit
  • Kyrgyz: пайда (payda) — benefit
  • Kyrgyz: киреше (kireşe) — benefit
  • Lao: ກໍາໄລ (kam lai) — benefit
  • Latin: lucrum — benefit
  • Latin: fructus — benefit
  • Latin: quaestus — benefit
  • Latvian: peļņa — benefit
  • Lithuanian: pelnas — benefit
  • Macedonian: заработка (zarabotka) — benefit
  • Macedonian: добивка (dobivka) — benefit
  • Macedonian: профит (profit) — benefit
  • Malay: faedah — benefit
  • Malay: keuntungan — benefit
  • Māori: huanga — benefit
  • Mongolian: ашиг (ašig) — benefit
  • Mongolian: орлого (orlogo) — benefit
  • Mongolian: ᠠᠰᠢᠭ (asiɣ) — benefit
  • Mongolian: ᠣᠷᠤᠯᠭ᠎ᠠ (orulɣ-a) — benefit
  • Norman: profit — benefit
  • Norwegian Bokmål: profitt — benefit
  • Norwegian Bokmål: gevinst — benefit
  • Church Slavic: възвить (vŭzvitĭ) — benefit
  • Church Slavic: възвитиѥ (vŭzvitije) — benefit
  • Pashto: فايده (fāyda) — benefit
  • Pashto: سود (sud) — benefit
  • Pashto: نفع (nafa') — benefit
  • Iranian Persian: فایِدِه (fâyede) — benefit
  • Iranian Persian: فائِدِه (fâ'ede) — benefit
  • Iranian Persian: سود (sud) — benefit
  • Iranian Persian: نَفْع (naf') — benefit
  • Polish: zysk — benefit
  • Polish: korzyść — benefit
  • Polish: profit — benefit
  • Portuguese: proveito — benefit
  • Portuguese: lucro — benefit
  • Romanian: câștig — benefit
  • Romanian: profit — benefit
  • Russian: при́быль (príbylʹ) — benefit
  • Russian: вы́года (výgoda) — benefit
  • Russian: дохо́д (doxód) — benefit
  • Russian: нажи́ва (nažíva) — benefit
  • Russian: по́льза (pólʹza) — benefit
  • Russian: профи́т (profít) — benefit
  • Sanskrit: उदय (udaya) — benefit
  • Scottish Gaelic: math — benefit
  • Scottish Gaelic: prothaid — benefit
  • Serbo-Croatian: про̀фӣт — benefit
  • Serbo-Croatian: до̏бӣт — benefit
  • Serbo-Croatian: pròfīt — benefit
  • Serbo-Croatian: dȍbīt — benefit
  • Sicilian: guadagnu — benefit
  • Sicilian: vadagnu — benefit
  • Sicilian: lucru — benefit
  • Sicilian: binificiu — benefit
  • Sicilian: benefit — benefit
  • Sicilian: prufittu — benefit
  • Sicilian: profit — benefit
  • Slovak: zisk — benefit
  • Slovak: prospech — benefit
  • Slovene: profit — benefit
  • Slovene: dobiček — benefit
  • Spanish: ganancia — benefit
  • Spanish: beneficio — benefit
  • Spanish: provecho — benefit
  • Swahili: dahili — benefit
  • Swahili: faida — benefit
  • Swedish: vinst — benefit
  • Swedish: förtjänst — benefit
  • Tajik: фоида (foyida) — benefit
  • Tajik: суд (sud) — benefit
  • Tajik: нафъ (naf') — benefit
  • Tamil: இலாபம் (ilāpam) — benefit
  • Tatar: табыш (tabış) — benefit
  • Tatar: файда (fayda) — benefit
  • Telugu: లాభము (lābhamu) — benefit
  • Thai: กําไร (gam-rai) — benefit
  • Tocharian B: kallau — benefit
  • Turkish: kazanç — benefit
  • Turkish: fayda — benefit
  • Ottoman Turkish: فائده (faʼide) — benefit
  • Ottoman Turkish: قزانج (kazanc) — benefit
  • Turkmen: girdeji — benefit
  • Turkmen: peýda — benefit
  • Ukrainian: прибу́ток (prybútok) — benefit
  • Ukrainian: ви́года (výhoda) — benefit
  • Ukrainian: кори́сть (korýstʹ) — benefit
  • Ukrainian: зиск (zysk) — benefit
  • Urdu: فایِدَہ (fāyida) — benefit
  • Urdu: فائِدَہ (fāida) — benefit
  • Urdu: لابھ (lābh) — benefit
  • Urdu: سُود (sūd) — benefit
  • Uyghur: پايدا (payda) — benefit
  • Uzbek: foyda — benefit
  • Vietnamese: lợi nhuận — benefit
  • Vietnamese: lời — benefit
  • Zazaki: fayde — benefit
  • Albanian: fitesë — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Azerbaijani: mənfəət — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Azerbaijani: qazanc — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Bulgarian: печа́лба (pečálba) — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Bulgarian: до́ход (dóhod) — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Catalan: benefici — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Danish: overskud — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Finnish: voitto — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Finnish: netto — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Finnish: tulos — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • French: bénéfice — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Galician: beneficio — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Georgian: მოგება (mogeba) — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • German: Gewinn — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Greek: κέρδος (kérdos) — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Ancient Greek: κέρδος (kérdos) — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Hindi: लाभ (lābh) — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Hungarian: nyereség — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Irish: brabús — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Irish: brabach — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Italian: profitto — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Italian: guadagno — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Italian: provento — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Latin: fructus — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Malay: untung — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Māori: hua — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Māori: monihua — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Muna: laba — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Norwegian Bokmål: gevinst — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: gevinst — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Polish: przychód — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Polish: profit — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Portuguese: lucro — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Portuguese: provento — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Sicilian: guadagnu — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Sicilian: vadagnu — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Sicilian: lucru — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Sicilian: prufittu — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Sicilian: profit — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Spanish: beneficio — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Spanish: lucro — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Spanish: dividendo — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Spanish: devengo — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Spanish: utilidad — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Swahili: faida — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Swedish: vinst — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Swedish: förtjänst — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Swedish: bruttovinst — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Thai: กําไร (gam-rai) — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Turkish: kazanç — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Ottoman Turkish: آصی (ası) — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Ottoman Turkish: فائده (faʼide) — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Ottoman Turkish: حاصل (hasıl) — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Ukrainian: прибу́ток (prybútok) — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Ukrainian: зиск (zysk) — total income or cash flow minus expenditures
  • Bulgarian: ползвам (polzvam) — To benefit, be of use to
  • Ngazidja Comorian: ufai — To benefit, be of use to
  • Dutch: baten — To benefit, be of use to
  • Dutch: helpen — To benefit, be of use to
  • Finnish: hyödyttää — To benefit, be of use to
  • Finnish: olla hyödyksi — To benefit, be of use to
  • Finnish: hyödyntää — To benefit, be of use to
  • Finnish: hyötyä — To benefit, be of use to
  • Finnish: olla eduksi — To benefit, be of use to
  • French: être profitable — To benefit, be of use to
  • French: servir — To benefit, be of use to
  • Galician: aproveitar — To benefit, be of use to
  • German: nützen — To benefit, be of use to
  • German: profitieren — To benefit, be of use to
  • Gothic: 𐌱𐍉𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (bōtjan) — To benefit, be of use to
  • Greek: ευεργετώ (evergetó) — To benefit, be of use to
  • Italian: beneficiare — To benefit, be of use to
  • Macedonian: ко́ристи (kóristi) — To benefit, be of use to
  • Spanish: aprovechar a — To benefit, be of use to
  • Bulgarian: печеля (pečelja) — To benefit, gain
  • Dutch: profiteren — To benefit, gain
  • Dutch: baat hebben — To benefit, gain
  • Dutch: voordeel hebben — To benefit, gain
  • Finnish: hyötyä — To benefit, gain
  • Finnish: olla hyödyksi — To benefit, gain
  • French: profiter — To benefit, gain
  • German: erreichen — To benefit, gain
  • German: gewinnen — To benefit, gain
  • Greek: κερδίζω (kerdízo) — To benefit, gain
  • Greek: ωφελούμαι (ofeloúmai) — To benefit, gain
  • Ancient Greek: κερδαίνω (kerdaínō) — To benefit, gain
  • Haitian Creole: pwofite — To benefit, gain
  • Italian: guadagnare — To benefit, gain
  • Latin: lucror — To benefit, gain
  • Macedonian: искори́стува (iskorístuva) — To benefit, gain
  • Macedonian: ќа́рува (ḱáruva) — To benefit, gain
  • Polish: korzystać — To benefit, gain
  • Polish: skorzystać — To benefit, gain
  • Portuguese: lucrar — To benefit, gain
  • Spanish: lucrarse [de/con] — To benefit, gain
  • Spanish: aprovecer [a] — To benefit, gain
  • Spanish: aprovecharse [de] — To benefit, gain
  • Spanish: aprovechar — To benefit, gain
  • Spanish: lucrar — To benefit, gain
  • Ottoman Turkish: فائدهلنمك (faʼidelenmek) — To benefit, gain
  • Ottoman Turkish: آصیلانمق (asılanmak) — To benefit, gain
  • Bulgarian: използвам (izpolzvam) — To take advantage of, exploit, use
  • Dutch: uitbuiten — To take advantage of, exploit, use
  • Dutch: profiteren — To take advantage of, exploit, use
  • Dutch: een slaatje slaan — To take advantage of, exploit, use
  • Esperanto: profiti — To take advantage of, exploit, use
  • Finnish: käyttää hyväkseen — To take advantage of, exploit, use
  • Finnish: käyttää — To take advantage of, exploit, use
  • Finnish: hyötyä — To take advantage of, exploit, use
  • Finnish: riistää — To take advantage of, exploit, use
  • Galician: aproveitar — To take advantage of, exploit, use
  • German: ausbeuten — To take advantage of, exploit, use
  • Greek: κερδίζω (kerdízo) — To take advantage of, exploit, use
  • Italian: trarre profitto — To take advantage of, exploit, use
  • Italian: approfittare — To take advantage of, exploit, use
  • Macedonian: искори́стува (iskorístuva) — To take advantage of, exploit, use
  • Polish: wyzyskiwać — To take advantage of, exploit, use
  • Polish: wyzyskać — To take advantage of, exploit, use
  • Spanish: lucrarse [de/con] — To take advantage of, exploit, use
  • Spanish: aprovecer [a] — To take advantage of, exploit, use
  • Spanish: aprovecharse [de] — To take advantage of, exploit, use
  • Spanish: aprovechar — To take advantage of, exploit, use
  • Spanish: lucrar — To take advantage of, exploit, use
Real reading context

profit in complete knowledge articles