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.
Earnings per share, excluding certain items, was $1.57, compared with $1.45 a year earlier.
From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026
Earnings per share, however, included a $1.44 charge related to an asset sale.
From Barron's • May 5, 2026
Earnings per share guidance only rose to $13.05 to $13.50, up from $13 to $13.50.
From Barron's • May 5, 2026
Earnings revisions in semiconductor and tech hardware have also accelerated across Asia’s supply chain, the analyst notes.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 4, 2026
Next to it was a fat envelope labeled "Lemonade Earnings."
From "The Lemonade War" by Jacqueline Davies
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.
