profitable

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpɹɒf.ɪ.tə.bl̩/ (UK); /ˈpɹɑ.fɪ.tə.bl̩/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English, borrowed from Old French profitable, porfitable,^[2][3][4] from profiter, to profit (see profit), with the suffix -able,^[5][2] or formed in English from the verb profit.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Yielding spiritual or moral benefit, useful: about 1300 in Etymonline, about 1325 in the OED.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Advantageous, expedient, helpful is from the mid-14th century.^[2] The specific sense, money-making, lucrative, is attested from 1758.^[2][6] As an adverb, profitably, it was used rarely from 1654.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – beneficial.^[2]
• mid-14th century – advantageous.^[2]
• 1758 – lucrative.^[6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Yielding financial profit; lucrative.
2. Beneficial or useful; advantageous.

Word family

• profitability
• profitably
• profitableness
• subprofitable
• unprofitable
• nonprofitable

Related words

• profit
• nonprofit

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press