gain

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[edit] English

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Etymology

Middle English gain, gein "profit, advantage" from Old Norse gagn "benefit, advantage, use" from Proto-Germanic *gagan- (gain). Akin to Icelandic gagn "gain, advantage, use", Swedish gagn "benefit, profit", Danish gavn "gain", Gothic gageigan "to gain", Old Norse gegn "ready"; cf. Middle English gainen "to be of use, profit, avail", Icelandic and Swedish gagna "to avail, help", Danish gavne "to benefit".

The Middle English word was reinforced, and its frequency strengthened, due to similarity in form and meaning to an unrelated Middle French word gain "advancement, cultivation", with which it was confused. Middle French gain is a contraction of Old French gaaing, ga(a)igne, a noun derivative of gaaignier "to till, earn, win", also of Germanic origin, but from a different root, Frankish waidanjan "to pasture, graze, hunt for food" from Proto-Germanic *waiðī, waiðō (pasture, field, hunting ground); cf. Old High German weidanōn "to hunt, forage for food" (German Weide "pasture"), Old Norse veiðr "hunting", Old English wāþ "hunting, chase, pursuit".

[edit] Noun

Singular
gain

Plural
gains

gain (plural gains)

  1. The act of gaining.
  2. What one gains, as a return on investment or dividend.
    No pain, no gain.
  3. (electronics) The factor by which a signal is multiplied.

[edit] Translations

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[edit] Antonyms

[edit] Verb

Infinitive
to gain

Third person singular
gains

Simple past
gained

Past participle
gained

Present participle
gaining

to gain (third-person singular simple present gains, present participle gaining, simple past and past participle gained)

  1. (transitive): To acquire possession of what one did not have before.
  2. (transitive): To increase.
  3. (transitive): To be more likely to catch or overtake an individual.

[edit] Translations

[edit] Anagrams


[edit] Basque

[edit] Noun

gain

  1. summit

[edit] French

[edit] Etymology

From gagner.

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Noun

gain m. (plural gains)

  1. (usually in plural) winnings, earnings, takings
  2. (finance) gain, yield