earnings
Americannoun
plural noun
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money or other payment earned
-
the profits of an enterprise
Etymology
Origin of earnings
before 1050; Middle English erning, Old English earning, earnung merit, pay. See earn 1, -ing 1, -s 3
Explanation
Earnings are the amount of money you make from doing a job. You'll be a lot more excited about babysitting when you learn your earnings will be more than generous. Most earnings come from work that you've done, although money you earn from an investment can also be called earnings. Any financial profit or gain you make go into the earnings category, since you earn that money, whether through work, luck, or intelligence. The Proto-Germanic root, *aznon, means "do harvest work."
Vocabulary lists containing earnings
One Idea, Part 1
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Century 21 Accounting, 9e, Chapters 11-14
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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.
Samrith Sarav sorted garbage at a recycling plant for as little as $1 a day to supplement her husband’s daily earnings of $5 to $7 as a motorcycle taxi driver.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 11, 2026
The new target values the index at a little more than 20 times Citi’s 2027 earnings per-share forecast for the index.
From Barron's • Jun. 10, 2026
“Companies tend to issue when equity demand is strong, earnings momentum is healthy and investor risk appetite is elevated.”
From MarketWatch • Jun. 10, 2026
He’s still largely bullish, citing solid earnings prospects, resilient consumer spending and reasonably modest credit spreads, but isn’t ready to take his eye off the screen just yet.
From Barron's • Jun. 10, 2026
These companies disclosed their ever-growing earnings, but not much else.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
