Earnings

How to spell earnings

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce earnings

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does earnings mean?

1. nounMoney received in return for work, or profit gained from an investment or business.

Earnings in a sentence

• Her monthly earnings barely covered the rent and bills.

• The company reported strong earnings for the final quarter.

Where does earnings come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word grows from the Old English verb earnian, which meant to deserve something or to gain it through labour rather than receive it as a gift. That verb has solid Germanic roots, with relatives in older continental languages tied to ideas of harvest and the reward owed for work done. By adding the suffix -ing to the verb earn, English formed a noun for the money or reward gained, and the plural form earnings settled into use for sums received as wages, profits, or returns. The modern sense, especially the financial one referring to a company's profits, hardened during the growth of commerce and accounting in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The spelling trap is simple but persistent: the ear- opening looks as though it should sound like ear, and the silent shape of that vowel cluster can tempt writers toward er- instead.

How the word is built

• earn (Old English earnian: to deserve, gain by labour)
• -ing (noun-forming suffix)
• -s (plural)