Loss
nounThe fact of no longer having something, or the amount or thing that is gone.
How to spell loss
4 letters · 1 syllable
How to pronounce loss
What does loss mean?
- nounThe fact of no longer having something, or the amount or thing that is gone.
Loss in a sentence
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The company reported a heavy financial loss for the quarter.
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The team felt the loss deeply after losing the final.
Where does loss come from?
Language of origin: Germanic
Loss comes from the Old English noun 'los', which meant 'destruction' or 'ruin', and it is closely tied to the verb 'leosan', meaning 'to lose' or 'to perish'. The same Germanic root gives us the modern verb 'lose' and the adjective 'loose', all sharing the basic idea of something being let go or coming undone. The doubled 's' in the modern spelling settled in during the Middle English period, helping the word stand apart from 'los' and the related 'lose'. Over the centuries the meaning broadened from outright destruction to the more everyday senses of being deprived of something, failing to win, or suffering a financial shortfall. Because 'lose' has a single 's' and 'loss' has two, the pair quietly trips up writers who reach for the wrong number of letters.
How the word is built
- los (Old English los: destruction, ruin)
- -s
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