gain
English edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Middle English gayn, gain, gein (“profit, advantage”), from Old Norse gagn (“benefit, advantage, use”), from Proto-Germanic *gagną, *gaganą (“gain, profit", literally "return”), from Proto-Germanic *gagana (“back, against, in return”), a reduplication of Proto-Germanic *ga- (“with, together”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“next to, at, with, along”).
Cognate with Icelandic gagn (“gain, advantage, use”), Swedish gagn (“benefit, profit”), Danish gavn (“gain, profit, success”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌲𐌴𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽 (gageigan, “to gain, profit”), Old Norse gegn (“ready”), dialectal Swedish gen (“useful, noteful”), Latin cum (“with”); see gain-, again, against. Compare also Middle English gaynen, geinen (“to be of use, profit, avail”), Icelandic and Swedish gagna (“to avail, help”), Danish gavne (“to benefit”).
The Middle English word was reinforced by Middle French gain (“gain, profit, advancement, cultivation”), from Old French gaaing, gaaigne, gaigne, a noun derivative of gaaignier, gaigner (“to till, earn, win”), from Frankish *waiþanōn (“to pasture, graze, hunt for food”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *waiþiz, *waiþō, *waiþijō (“pasture, field, hunting ground”); compare Old High German weidōn, weidanōn (“to hunt, forage for food”) (Modern German Weide (“pasture”)), Old Norse veiða (“to catch, hunt”), Old English wǣþan (“to hunt, chase, pursue”). Related to wathe, wide.
Verb edit
gain (third-person singular simple present gains, present participle gaining, simple past and past participle gained)
- (transitive) To acquire possession of.
- Looks like you've gained a new friend.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 16:26:
- What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
- 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XXI, page 35:
- Another answers, ‘Let him be,
He loves to make parade of pain,
That with his piping he may gain
The praise that comes to constancy.’
- (intransitive) To have or receive advantage or profit; to acquire gain; to grow rich; to advance in interest, health, or happiness; to make progress.
- The sick man gains daily.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ezekiel 22:12:
- Thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion.
- (transitive, dated) To come off winner or victor in; to be successful in; to obtain by competition.
- to gain a battle; to gain a case at law
- (transitive) To increase.
- 1883, Howard Pyle, chapter V, in The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood […], New York, N.Y.: […] Charles Scribner’s Sons […], →OCLC:
- Then they had bouts of wrestling and of cudgel play, so that every day they gained in skill and strength.
- (intransitive) To be more likely to catch or overtake an individual.
- I'm gaining (on you).
- gain ground
- (transitive) To reach.
- to gain the top of a mountain
- 1908, Jack London, The Iron Heel[1], New York: The Macmillan Company:
- Ernest laughed harshly and savagely when he had gained the street.
- To draw into any interest or party; to win to one's side; to conciliate.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 18:15:
- If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
- 1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
- to gratify the queen, and gain the court
- (intransitive) To put on weight.
- I've been gaining.
- 2020, Riley Willman, “Ana”, in Rapids Review (Anoka Ramsey Community College):
- Thinspo, bonespo, meanspo, sweetspo, anything that could motivate me not to eat, not to consume, not to gain, not to fail.
- (of a clock or watch) To run fast.
Conjugation edit
infinitive | (to) gain | ||
---|---|---|---|
present tense | past tense | ||
1st-person singular | gain | gained, gain'd† | |
2nd-person singular | gain, gainest† | gained, gainedst†, gain'd† | |
3rd-person singular | gains, gaineth† | gained, gain'd† | |
plural | gain | ||
subjunctive | gain | gained, gain'd† | |
imperative | gain | — | |
participles | gaining | gained, gain'd† |
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
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Noun edit
gain (countable and uncountable, plural gains)
- The act of gaining; acquisition.
- c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene ii:
- All running headlong after greedie ſpoiles:
And more regarding gaine than victorie:
- 1855, Alfred Tennyson, Maude:
- the lust of gain, in the spirit of Cain
- 2023 June 25, Charles Hugh Smith, The Corruption of POTUS, SCOTUS and SCROTUS[2]:
- When power is sought primarily for private gain, the social fabric decays and unravels.
- The thing or things gained.
- c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
- Everyone shall share in the gains.
- (electronics) The factor by which a signal is multiplied.
- 1987, John Borwick, Sound recording practice, page 238:
- There follows the high and low-frequency replay equalization, which normally involves two adjustments with a further control allowing the replay gain to be set.
Antonyms edit
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
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Etymology 2 edit
From dialectal English gen, gin, short for again, agen (“against”); also Middle English gain, gayn, gein, ȝæn (“against”), from Old English gēan, geġn (“against”). More at against.
Preposition edit
gain
Derived terms edit
Etymology 3 edit
From Middle English gayn, gein, geyn (“straight, direct, short, fit, good”), from Old Norse gegn (“straight, direct, short, ready, serviceable, kindly”), from gegn (“opposite, against”, adverb) (whence gagna (“to go against, meet, suit, be meet”)); see below at gain. Adverb from Middle English gayn, gayne (“fitly, quickly”), from the adjective.
Adjective edit
gain (comparative more gain, superlative most gain)
- (obsolete) Straight, direct; near; short.
- 1485 July, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter XX, in William Caxton, editor, Le Morte D’Arthur[3], volume 1:
- [...] many times his horse and he plunged over the head in deep mires, for he knew not the way, but took the gainest way in that woodness, that many times he was like to perish.
- the gainest way
- (obsolete) Suitable; convenient; ready.
- (dialectal) Easy; tolerable; handy, dexterous.
- (dialectal) Honest; respectable; moderate; cheap.
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
Adverb edit
gain (comparative more gain, superlative most gain)
- (obsolete) Straightly; quickly; by the nearest way or means.
- (dialectal) Suitably; conveniently; dexterously; moderately.
- (dialectal) Tolerably; fairly.
- gain quiet (= fairly/pretty quiet)
Etymology 4 edit
Compare Welsh gan (“a mortise”).
Noun edit
gain (plural gains)
- (architecture) A square or bevelled notch cut out of a girder, binding joist, or other timber which supports a floor beam, so as to receive the end of the floor beam.
Anagrams edit
Basque edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Basque *gaiN, further etymology unknown.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
gain inan
- upper part, top
- Synonym: gainalde
- summit
- Synonym: tontor
- cream (butterfat part of milk which rises to the top)
- (figurative) cream (the best part of something)
Declension edit
indefinite | singular | plural | |
---|---|---|---|
absolutive | gain | gaina | gainak |
ergative | gainek | gainak | gainek |
dative | gaini | gainari | gainei |
genitive | gainen | gainaren | gainen |
comitative | gainekin | gainarekin | gainekin |
causative | gainengatik | gainarengatik | gainengatik |
benefactive | gainentzat | gainarentzat | gainentzat |
instrumental | gainez | gainaz | gainez |
inessive | gainetan | gainean | gainetan |
locative | gainetako | gaineko | gainetako |
allative | gainetara | gainera | gainetara |
terminative | gainetaraino | gaineraino | gainetaraino |
directive | gainetarantz | gainerantz | gainetarantz |
destinative | gainetarako | gainerako | gainetarako |
ablative | gainetatik | gainetik | gainetatik |
partitive | gainik | — | — |
prolative | gaintzat | — | — |
Derived terms edit
- esne-gain (“cream”)
- gain behera
- gain-azpi
- gain-beheiti
- gain-gaineko (“excelent”)
- gain-gainetik
- gaina hartu
- gaina izan
- gainak hartu
- gainalde (“top, upper part”)
- gainazal (“surface”)
- gainazpikatu
- gainbalio (“surplus value”)
- gainbegirada
- gainbegirale
- gainbegiratu
- gainbegiratzaile
- gainbegiratze
- gainbehera (“collapse, decline”)
- gainbide
- gaindegi
- gaindi (“abundance”)
- gaindidura
- gaindiezin
- gaindika
- gaindikatu
- gaindikin
- gaindiko
- gainditu (“to surpass”)
- gaindiz
- gaindosi (“overdose”)
- gaindu (“to surpass”)
- gainegitura (“superstructure”)
- gaineko (“upper”)
- gainelikadura
- gainera (“furthermore”)
- gainera berriz
- gainerako
- gainerakoan
- gainerateko
- gaineratiko
- gaineratu
- gainetik
- gainetik beheiti
- gainetik behera
- gainetik kendu
- gainetiko
- gainez
- gainez egin
- gainez gain
- gainezarpen
- gainezarri
- gainezka (“overflowing”)
- gainezka egin (“to overflow”)
- gainezkaldi
- gainezkatu
- gainezko (“excessive”)
- gaineztu
- gaingabetu (“without cream”)
- gaingiroki (“superficially”)
- gaingora
- gainjantzi
- gainjarri
- gainka
- gainka egin
- gainkarga (“overload”)
- gainkatu
- gainkostu
- gainontzean
- gainontzeko
- gainpisu (“overweightness”)
- gainpopulazio
- gainsari
- gaintar (“highlander”)
- gaintentsio
- gainzama (“overload”)
- gainzurikeria
- gainzuritu
- goien (“cream”)
Further reading edit
French edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Middle French gain, from Old French gaaing, deverbal from the verb gaaignier (“to earn, gain, seize, conquer by force”) (whence Modern French gagner).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
gain m (plural gains)
- a gain (of something), an instance of saving (something); an increase (in something)
- Antonym: perte
- un gain de temps ― an increase in time
- un gain de productivité ― an increase in productivity
- (usually in the plural) winnings, earnings, takings
- (finance) gain, yield
Derived terms edit
See also edit
Further reading edit
- “gain”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Louisiana Creole edit
Etymology edit
From French gagner (“to gain”), compare Haitian Creole gen.
Verb edit
gain
- to have
Middle English edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Old English ġeġn, gæġn, from Proto-West Germanic *gagin, from Proto-Germanic *gagin; also influenced by Old Norse gegn, from the same Proto-Germanic form. Doublet of gayn (“direct, fast, good, helpful”).
Alternative forms edit
Pronunciation edit
Preposition edit
gain
- against, next to, touching
- (figurative) against, opposed to, counter to, opposing (usually used in religious and spiritual contexts)
- towards, to, nearing
- (rare) on, on top of
- (rare) facing, pointed towards
Descendants edit
References edit
- “yẹ̄n, prep.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-23.
Adverb edit
gain
References edit
- “yẹ̄n, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-23.
Etymology 2 edit
Adjective edit
gain
- Alternative form of gayn (“direct, fast, good, helpful”)
Etymology 3 edit
Noun edit
gain
- Alternative form of gayn (“gain, reward, advantage”)
Etymology 4 edit
Verb edit
gain
- Alternative form of gaynen
Middle French edit
Etymology edit
Noun edit
gain m (plural gains)
- income (financial)
- 15th century, Rustichello da Pisa (original author), Mazarine Master (scribe), The Travels of Marco Polo, page 19, line 16:
- et donnoit chascun iour de son gaaing pour Dieu
- and every day he gave away some of his income for God
Descendants edit
- French: gain
References edit
- gain on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)
Welsh edit
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
gain
- Soft mutation of cain.
Mutation edit
Welsh mutation | |||
---|---|---|---|
radical | soft | nasal | aspirate |
cain | gain | nghain | chain |
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |