earnings

earnings — noun

1. the money you receive for doing your job, including your regular pay plus any ex

1.nounA2
Definition

the money you receive for doing your job, including your regular pay plus any extra income such as overtime pay, tips, or bonuses

Example

Sumin's monthly earnings from her teaching job are enough to pay the rent and buy food for her family.

always plural — earnings + plural verb

The warehouse worker reported his earnings from overtime on his annual tax form.

Common collocations
  • monthly earnings
  • annual earnings
  • total earnings
  • earnings from [work/employment]
Synonyms
  • income

    broader term — includes money from investments or benefits, not just work

  • wages

    usually refers to hourly or daily pay, often for manual or physical work

  • salary

    fixed annual pay paid monthly, typically for professional or office jobs

Antonyms
  • expenses

    money spent rather than received

  • outgoings

    regular costs such as bills and rent that reduce what you keep

Grammar Patterns

earnings + plural verb

earnings from + noun phrase

someone's earnings

Usage Note

Always takes a plural verb because 'earnings' is a plural noun: 'her earnings are…' not ✓ 'her earnings is…'.

Common Mistakes

His earning is not enough to live on.
His earnings are not enough to live on.
The noun 'earnings' is always plural; there is no singular form 'earning' for this meaning.

2. the money a company makes from its business activities over a specific period, a

2.nounB2
Definition

the money a company makes from its business activities over a specific period, after deducting all costs such as wages, materials, rent, and taxes

Example

The electronics company's quarterly earnings were much higher than the financial analysts had predicted.

collocation: quarterly earnings

Investors rushed to buy shares after the airline published its strongest earnings in five years.

collocation: publish / report earnings

Common collocations
  • quarterly earnings
  • annual earnings
  • earnings report
  • earnings announcement
  • earnings per share
  • earnings forecast
Synonyms
  • profit

    more general term; 'earnings' is the standard term in company reports

  • net income

    technical term used in accounting statements for the same figure

Antonyms
  • loss

    when costs exceed revenue, a company reports a loss instead of earnings

  • deficit

    formal term for a negative financial result in a given period

Grammar Patterns

earnings + plural verb

earnings report / earnings announcement

earnings of + [amount]

Usage Note

Common in business and investing contexts. Often paired with 'report', 'announcement', 'forecast', or 'release'. Refers to profit after all expenses — not the same as 'revenue', which is total money received before costs are subtracted.

Common Mistakes

The company's earning exceeded expectations.
The company's earnings exceeded expectations.
Even in business contexts, 'earnings' is always plural.
The firm reported strong earnings, meaning its total sales were high.
The firm reported strong earnings, meaning its profit after costs was high.
'Earnings' in business refers to profit (revenue minus costs), not just sales revenue.

Word family

  • earn
    verbA1
  • earner
    nounB1
  • earned
    adjectiveB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words refer to money received for work, but they differ in scope and context. 'Earnings' is the broadest — it covers all money from a job including overtime, tips, and bonuses, and is always plural. 'Income' is even broader: it includes money from investments, rental property, or government benefits in addition to work. 'Wages' usually refers to pay calculated by the hour or day, often for manual or service jobs, and is paid weekly. 'Salary' is a fixed annual amount paid in regular installments (monthly or biweekly), typical for professional roles. 'Pay' is the most general everyday word and can be used for any type of compensation. For example: 'His earnings this month include overtime' (total from work), 'Her annual salary is 60,000' (fixed), 'The factory pays wages every Friday' (hourly), and 'What is the pay like for that job?' (general).

income ↗wagessalary ↗pay ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • earnings per share
  • earnings before interest and tax
  • retained earnings
  • earnings season

Prepositions

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

The word 'earnings' comes from the Old English verb 'earnian', which originally meant 'to harvest' or 'to gain by labour'. By adding the suffix '-ings' (forming a plural noun from a verb), English speakers created a word for 'things that have been earned'. The business sense — referring to a company's profit — became common in the early 1900s as modern accounting and corporate reporting developed.