emolument

American  

[ih-mol-yuh-muhnt] / ɪˈmɒl yə mənt /

noun

1. profit, salary, or fees from office or employment; compensation for services.

   Tips are an emolument in addition to wages.

   Synonyms:

   honorarium, stipend, recompense, pay, earnings

---

emolument British  

/ ɪˈmɒljʊmənt /

noun

1. the profit arising from an office or employment, usually in the form of fees or wages

---

Etymology

Origin of emolument

First recorded in 1470–80; from Latin ēmolumentum “advantage, benefit,” probably a derivative of ēmol(ere) “to grind out, produce by grinding” ( ē- “from, out of” + molere “to grind”) + -u-, variant before labials of -i- + -mentum noun suffix; see e- ¹, mill ¹, -i-, -ment

Explanation

Not many workers think of their paychecks as emoluments, but they certainly could. Emolument is another word for the money you receive for working. Pronounce emolument with a long e sound in the first syllable and the accent on the second: "e MALL you ment." Emolument traces back to the Latin word emolumentum, meaning "profit, gain," which is believed to have referred to payments made to millers for grinding corn — emolere means "grind out." Today, perhaps coincidentally, people refer to work as "the grind."