income

American  

[in-kuhm] / ˈɪn kʌm /

noun

• incomes
  plural

1. revenue received for goods or services, or from other sources, as rents or investments.

   For years, her only source of income was the small number of stocks her father left her.

2. the money, or amount of money, received from one’s employment.

   a household with three incomes;

   a healthcare worker with an income that hasn’t increased in five years.

   Synonyms:

   earnings, wages, salary, return, gains, annuity, interest

   Antonyms:

   expenditure, outgo

3. something that comes in as an addition or increase, especially by chance.

4. Archaic. a coming in.

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income British  

/ ˈɪnkəm, ˈɪnkʌm /

noun

1. the amount of monetary or other returns, either earned or unearned, accruing over a given period of time

2. receipts; revenue

3. rare an inflow or influx

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income Cultural  

1. The amount of money received during a period of time in exchange for labor or services, from the sale of goods or property, or as a profit from financial investments.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• incomeless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• incomes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of income

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English: literally, “that which has come in,” noun use of incomen (past participle of incomen “to come in”), Old English incuman; see in, come

Explanation

What could be simpler than to remember that income basically refers to money that "comes in," or is earned. Your income is the money you make in a given time period, for example weekly, monthly, or annually. Your income might come from many sources — salary, investments, interest or annuities. Today income is used as a noun, but the Old English word incuman was first a verb that meant "to come in," and referred to the money earned through one's labor or business dealings. The first income tax was attempted in Britain in 1404, but was so unpopular it was ended. In the United States, the Federal Income Tax became law in 1913, and, unfortunately, is still in effect.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

income incomes

The stolen data included annual income and personal-loan limits of some customers—information that could be sold to scammers or otherwise traded on the web.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

Lecornu has said the draft law could allow compensation payments to be recovered from family allowances and housing benefits while ensuring a minimum income.

From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026

He added that they were able to make up this income later in the season.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

“The higher yields go, obviously, the more attractive fixed income gets,” Howard said.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026

But at first money was no object, as in addition to his other income, Tycho was granted more lands on the mainland.

From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin

Many ordinary Spaniards say they have not felt the benefits of the country's economic growth, with inflation outpacing wage growth and rent taking up an increasing share of household incomes.

From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026

As well as squeezed incomes, Morgan Stanley analysts point out that luxury brands face stiff competition from luxury resellers, which wasn’t the case a decade ago.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026

Even though mortgage rates were similarly high in the past, home prices were still affordable relative to buyers’ incomes.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026

By one measure, California is short nearly 1.4 million homes for people earning very low incomes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

Even on their modest incomes, the servants had managed to pool together enough money to buy Penelope an absolutely spectacular gift.

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood

Related Words

• cash
• compensation
• earnings
• interest
• livelihood
• pay
• proceeds
• profit
• revenue
• royalty
• salary
• wage