# profit

Pronunciation: say "PROF-it" US /ˈpɹɑfɪt/, UK /ˈpɹɒfɪt/

## Noun

1. The money or other benefit that remains after subtracting expenses from the total income a business or person earns from sales.
   - Simple: The money a business or person has left after paying all the costs.
   - _The company reported a record profit for the third quarter._
   - _Most of the year's profit came from online sales._

## Verb

2. To gain money or some other benefit from something, sometimes by taking unfair advantage of a situation or of other people.
   - Simple: To get money or another good thing from something, sometimes in an unfair way.
   - _Investors who buy early often profit when the company grows._
   - _She profited greatly from her years studying abroad._
4. To be of benefit or use to someone.
   - Simple: To be useful or helpful to someone.
   - _It will profit you little to argue with him now._
   - _What will it profit the company to win the lawsuit if it loses its customers' trust?_

## Noun

3. A benefit or advantage gained from something; a positive result that comes from an action or experience. *(dated)*
   - Simple: In older or bookish writing, a good result or benefit you get from something.
   - _She found great profit in the quiet hours she spent reading by the fire._
   - _There is no profit in dwelling endlessly on regrets that cannot be undone._

## Other meanings

- (noun) Ellipsis of profit à prendre.

## Origin

The source is Latin proficiō ("to go forward, advance, make progress, be profitable or useful"), whose derivative prōfectus ("advance, progress, growth, increase, profit") passed through Old French profit into Middle English profit. Profect is a doublet.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/profit (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).