revenue

American  

[rev-uhn-yoo, -uh-noo] / ˈrɛv ənˌyu, -əˌnu /

noun

1. the income of a government from taxation, excise duties, customs, or other sources, appropriated to the payment of the public expenses.

2. the government department charged with the collection of such income.

3. revenues, the collective items or amounts of income of a person, a state, etc.

4. the return or yield from any kind of property, patent, service, etc.; income.

5. an amount of money regularly coming in.

6. a particular item or source of income.

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revenue British  

/ ˈrɛvɪˌnjuː /

noun

1. the income accruing from taxation to a government during a specified period of time, usually a year

2. 1. a government department responsible for the collection of government revenue

   2. ( as modifier )

      revenue men

3. the gross income from a business enterprise, investment, property, etc

4. a particular item of income

5. something that yields a regular financial return; source of income

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revenue Cultural  

1. The income of local, state, or national governments.

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Other Word Forms

• nonrevenue adjective
• revenual adjective
• revenued adjective

Etymology

Origin of revenue

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Middle French, noun use of feminine past participle of revenir “to return,” from Latin revenīre, equivalent to re- re- + venīre “to come ”

Explanation

Revenue is money earned by a business, or income received by the government from taxes. The government is always interested in dreaming up new sources of revenue, and so is the average head of a company unless she doesn't want to be the head anymore. Revenue is from a French word meaning "to return or come back," and dollar returns are always a welcome thing. Declining advertising revenue will doom your website, no matter how great it is. If your lemonade stand is not making a profit, you might consider lowering costs. Maybe you could get cheaper lemonade mix? Or you might look for more creative and exciting ways to increase revenue––like raiding the pantry for cookies you can sell as well.

Example Sentences

The bank has seen QIS revenue rise 30% so far this year from the same period in 2025, according to people close to the matter.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026

Moreover, QIS revenue is nearly risk free and generally reliable since the trades are preset.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026

Shares of Salesforce also have fallen around 30% this year, for instance, even as annual recurring revenue from its Agentforce AI platform jumped 82% to $800 million over the last six months.

From Barron's • Apr. 20, 2026

Earlier this month, the company said its revenue run rate had exceeded $30 billion, up from $9 billion at the end of 2025.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 20, 2026

Much of the state’s revenue was derived not from direct taxation, but from duties placed on goods moving in and out of the port.

From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro

Related Words

• credit
• dividend
• earnings
• fund
• gain
• interest
• pay
• proceeds
• receipt
• return
• salary
• stock
• wealth
• yield