revenue
Americannoun
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the income of a government from taxation, excise duties, customs, or other sources, appropriated to the payment of the public expenses.
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the government department charged with the collection of such income.
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revenues, the collective items or amounts of income of a person, a state, etc.
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the return or yield from any kind of property, patent, service, etc.; income.
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an amount of money regularly coming in.
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a particular item or source of income.
noun
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the income accruing from taxation to a government during a specified period of time, usually a year
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a government department responsible for the collection of government revenue
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( as modifier )
revenue men
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the gross income from a business enterprise, investment, property, etc
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a particular item of income
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something that yields a regular financial return; source of income
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of revenue
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Middle French, noun use of feminine past participle of revenir “to return,” from Latin revenīre, equivalent to re- re- + venīre “to come ”
Explanation
Revenue is money earned by a business, or income received by the government from taxes. The government is always interested in dreaming up new sources of revenue, and so is the average head of a company unless she doesn't want to be the head anymore. Revenue is from a French word meaning "to return or come back," and dollar returns are always a welcome thing. Declining advertising revenue will doom your website, no matter how great it is. If your lemonade stand is not making a profit, you might consider lowering costs. Maybe you could get cheaper lemonade mix? Or you might look for more creative and exciting ways to increase revenue––like raiding the pantry for cookies you can sell as well.
Vocabulary lists containing revenue
Vocabulary from "Stop Expecting Games to Build Empathy" by Julie Muncy
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Stamp Act (1765)
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Fidel Castro (1926-2016) Memorial List
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
One of its main sources of revenue now is from the Australian immigration detention centre it has housed for much of this century.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
Majumdar believes AMD’s move on Monday reflects more of a “strategic validation” and indication of a future revenue pipeline, as opposed to an “immediate quantifiable earnings contribution.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
The fines, which can be as high as 20% of a company’s annual revenue, wouldn’t come into play until 2030, the commission said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
Even so, Koontz is more bullish about the company’s revenue potential in near-packaged optics designs, which have lower development risk but “a large portion of the advantages of” co-packaged optics.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
In the weeks that followed, Molly had uploaded those clips online, and the resulting interest and ad revenue was what first convinced her that they might one day be able to rebuild.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
June's borrowing figure was helped by higher revenues from income tax and VAT, while interest payments on inflation-linked debt fell.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
CBS News, historically cautious about any endeavors that could tarnish its legacy as a journalism organization, was the last of the traditional networks to get into e-commerce in 2022 after COVID-19 lockdowns depressed ad revenues.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026
At member-state level, Brussels will push countries to channel revenues from the ETS into decarbonising industry -- an area where performance varies widely.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
Increasing spending pressures and tight revenues could weigh on public finances and push up government borrowing costs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
WorldCom and Global Crossing fabricated billions of dollars in revenues to pump up their stock prices.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
