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.
Asian stocks stuttered Wednesday as investors fought to claw back the previous day's steep tech losses, with focus turning to US inflation data and upcoming earnings from key AI-linked firms.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
The announcement came less 24 hours before Bank of America was due to announce its quarterly earnings on Wednesday morning.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo and Citigroup reported third-quarter results on Tuesday, kicking off a mixed Wall Street earnings season.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
The researchers also wrote that a boost in spending among AI hyperscalers is driving earnings at semiconductor companies and others connected to the trade, which currently accounts for between one-third and one-half of U.S. growth.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026
“Exxon comes out with its earnings and we need to get that as fast as possible up on screens around the world: ‘Exxon earned thirty-nine cents this quarter as opposed to thirty-six cents last quarter.’
From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman
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.
