revenue

American  

[rev-uhn-yoo, -uh-noo] / ˈrɛv ənˌyu, -əˌnu /

noun

1. the income of a government from taxation, excise duties, customs, or other sources, appropriated to the payment of the public expenses.

2. the government department charged with the collection of such income.

3. revenues, the collective items or amounts of income of a person, a state, etc.

4. the return or yield from any kind of property, patent, service, etc.; income.

5. an amount of money regularly coming in.

6. a particular item or source of income.

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revenue British  

/ ˈrɛvɪˌnjuː /

noun

1. the income accruing from taxation to a government during a specified period of time, usually a year

2. 1. a government department responsible for the collection of government revenue

   2. ( as modifier )

      revenue men

3. the gross income from a business enterprise, investment, property, etc

4. a particular item of income

5. something that yields a regular financial return; source of income

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revenue Cultural  

1. The income of local, state, or national governments.

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Other Word Forms

• nonrevenue
  adjective
• revenual
  adjective
• revenued
  adjective

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.

Example Sentences

Revenue from subscriptions and streaming services boomed during the pandemic when coronavirus restrictions prevented people from attending live concerts.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026

A court decision is calling into question the penalties and interest the Internal Revenue Service charged some taxpayers between January 2020 and July 2023, according to experts inside and outside the agency.

From MarketWatch • May 27, 2026

Revenue is expected to be $2.4 billion, which would be a 27% increase from the previous year’s $1.9 billion.

From Barron's • May 27, 2026

But between 2018 and 2020, an Internal Revenue Service contractor leaked a large number of wealthy Americans’ tax returns to the media, and Trump’s was among them.

From Salon • May 25, 2026

The data on the four hundred highest-income taxpayers come from an Internal Revenue Service report, with 2004 tax rules applied to 2000 data.

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times

Related Words

• credit
• dividend
• earnings
• fund
• gain
• interest
• pay
• proceeds
• receipt
• return
• salary
• stock
• wealth
• yield