product

American  

[prod-uhkt, -uhkt] / ˈprɒd əkt, -ʌkt /

noun

1. a thing produced by labor.

   products of farm and factory;

   the product of his thought.

2. a person or thing produced by or resulting from a process, as a natural, social, or historical one; result.

   He is a product of his time.

3. the totality of goods or services that a company makes available; output.

   a decrease in product during the past year.

4. Chemistry. a substance obtained from another substance through chemical change.

5. Mathematics.

   1. the result obtained by multiplying two or more quantities together.

   2. intersection.

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product British  

/ ˈprɒdʌkt /

noun

1. something produced by effort, or some mechanical or industrial process

2. the result of some natural process

3. a result or consequence

4. a substance formed in a chemical reaction

5. any substance used to style hair, such as gel, wax, mousse, or hairspray

6. maths

   1. the result of the multiplication of two or more numbers, quantities, etc

   2. Also called: set product.  another name for intersection

7. See Cartesian product

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product Scientific  

/ prŏd′əkt /

1. A number or quantity obtained by multiplication. For example, the product of 3 and 7 is 21.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subproduct
  noun
• multiproduct
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of product

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin prōductum “(thing) produced,” neuter of past participle of prōdūcere “to lead forward”; see produce

Explanation

When you start making something, the result is a product. Most products are offered for sale, like dairy products at the grocery store or kitchen products at Macy's. The word product is often a synonym for "merchandise" — the stuff for sale on the racks and shelves at a store. But a product can also simply be the result or consequence of someone's efforts or a set of circumstances. A good report card is the product of hard work. You are the product of your parent's relationship. And an aging hippie who still wears bell bottoms may be described as a product of the sixties.

Example Sentences

McPeake expects Quantum Computing’s quantum networking and security revenue to grow, but the real key to the company’s expansion is product miniaturization.

From Barron's • Jun. 15, 2026

There’s no insurance product that will protect all your assets from the unpredictable, multiyear impact of serious health ailments.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 15, 2026

Back in 2016, Taco Bell introduced its limited-time “quesalupa” to the Canadian market by calling on everyday fans to read scripts professing their love for the product in appropriately cheesy, ’80s-style dating videos.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 15, 2026

The result was a product that retained the texture improvements while achieving taste characteristics comparable to the original whey protein control.

From Science Daily • Jun. 15, 2026

There is a recursion here that is worth noting: like all proteins, DNA polymerase, the enzyme that enables DNA to replicate, is itself the product of a gene.*

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Related Words

• amount
• brand
• commodity
• crop
• device
• fruit
• merchandise
• output
• produce
• production
• profit
• stock
• work