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

Revenue for the commercial- and investment-bank business jumped 18.9% to $23.38 billion, as markets revenue climbed 20% to a record $11.6 billion and investment-banking fees rose 28% to $2.9 billion.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 14, 2026

Albertsons’ net sales and other revenue rose to $20.25 billion, and it guided for fiscal 2026 identical sales of flat to up 1%.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

Consumer- and community-banking revenue was up 6.9% to $19.57 billion, amid a 13% jump in revenue in the card service and auto business to $7.8 billion.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 14, 2026

For international flights, they think that A$150 million-A$200 million of additional revenue helps offset A$600 million in fuel costs.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

All of a sudden our crew lost its main revenue stream.

From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah

Related Words

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