Proceeds

How to spell proceeds

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce proceeds

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does proceeds mean?

1. nounThe total money obtained or received from a sale, event, or transaction.
2. verbGoes on to do something, or continues an action; third-person singular of proceed.

Proceeds in a sentence

• noun

  All proceeds from the charity auction will fund the new clinic.

• verb

  Once the form is signed, the office proceeds with the application.

• noun

  The proceeds of the house sale were split between the two siblings.

• verb

  The train proceeds to the next station after a brief delay.

Where does proceeds come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb procedere, which literally meant 'to go forward' or 'to advance', built from pro 'forward' and cedere 'to go, to move'. The same cedere root quietly powers a whole family of English words such as 'recede', 'concede', and 'succeed', which is exactly why the spelling so often goes astray: 'proceed' takes a double 'e', while close cousins like 'precede' take a single one. English borrowed the verb through Old French proceder in the late 1300s, originally meaning to move onward or to carry on with an action. The plural noun sense, meaning the money that comes forward or results from a sale, developed somewhat later, treating the financial return as something that 'proceeds' from the transaction. Because the verb and the money noun are spelled identically but stressed differently, modern writers have to hold two pronunciations in their heads for one spelling.

How the word is built

• pro- (forward)
• ceed (from Latin cedere: to go)
• -s (plural noun / third-person verb ending)