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.
"The continued industry-wide upward trend of prices also contributed to the record earnings," the company said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
These earnings met market expectations, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said, citing its own financial data firm.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
Stripping out certain one-time items, adjusted earnings were 64 cents a share.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
During the chain’s earnings call on Wednesday, Chief Financial Officer Adam Rymer said traffic over that time slowed by “about 200 basis points,” or around 2%.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
My father asked about my day, and could not look me in the eye when I reported my earnings.
From "I Will Always Write Back" by Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda
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.
