loss

See also lõss, löss, løss, loß, and löß

See also los

English

Alternative forms

• loß (obsolete)

Etymology

Old English has los "loss, destruction," from a Proto-Germanic root *lausam- (see lose), but the modern word probably evolved in the 14th century from lost, the original past participle of lose, itself from Old English losian "be lost, perish," from los "destruction, loss", from a Proto-Germanic root *lausa (compare O.N. los "the breaking up of an army"), from Proto-Indo-Eeuopean base *leu- "to loosen, divide, cut apart, untie, separate"

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /lɒs/
• (US) IPA: /lɑs/, /lɔs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒs

Noun

loss (plural losses)

1. an instance of losing, such as a defeat

   The match ended in their first loss of the season.

2. something that is lost

   It was written off as a loss.

3. the hurtful condition of having lost something or someone

   We mourn his loss.

4. (plural) casualties, especially physically eliminated victims of violent conflict

   The battle was won, but losses were great.

5. (financial) the sum an entity loses on balance

   The sum of expenditures and taxes minus total income is a loss, when this difference is positive.

6. destruction, ruin

   It was a terrible crash: both cars were total losses

7. (engineering) electricity of kinetic power expended without doing useful work

   The inefficiency of many old-fashioned power plants exceeds 60% loss before the subsequent losses during transport over the grid

Usage notes

• We often use make or take a loss. See Appendix:Collocations of do, have, make, and take

Antonyms

• gain
• win
• (financial): profit

Derived terms

• loss leader
• loss ratio
• at a loss
• for a loss

Related terms

• losable
• losel
• loser

Translations

instance of losing

Arabic: خسارة (ar) (khasaara) f. Armenian: կորուստ (hy) (korust) Catalan: pèrdua (ca) f. Chinese: Mandarin: 滅失 (zh), 灭失 (zh) (mièshī) Czech: prohra (cs) f. Dutch: verlies (nl) n., nederlaag (nl), verliezen (nl) n. Finnish: häviö (fi) French: défaite (fr) f. German: Verlust (de) m., (in a game or war) Niederlage (de) f. Japanese: 損失 (ja) (そんしつ, sonshitsu)

Persian: زیان (fa) (ziyân) Polish: utrata (pl) f., strata (pl) f., (in a game) przegrana (pl) f., porażka (pl) f. Portuguese: perda (pt) f. Russian: (in a game) проигрыш (ru) (próigryš) m., (in a game or war) поражение (ru) (poražénije) n., (object or person) потеря (ru) (potérja) f., (person) утрата (ru) (utráta) f. Scottish Gaelic: call (gd) m. Spanish: derrota (es) Swahili: hasara (sw) Telugu: ఓటమి (otami), పరాజయం (parAjayam) Vietnamese: mất (vi)

something lost

Armenian: կորուստ (hy) (korust) Catalan: pèrdua (ca) f. Czech: ztráta (cs) f. Dutch: verlies (nl) n. Finnish: hävikki (fi) French: perte (fr) f. German: Verlust (de) m. Hungarian: veszteség (hu) Persian: زیان (fa) (ziyân)

Polish: zguba (pl) f. Portuguese: perda (pt) f. Russian: потеря (ru) (potérja) f., утрата (ru) (utráta) f. Scottish Gaelic: call (gd) m. Spanish: pérdida (es) Swahili: hasara (sw) Telugu: నష్టము (nashtamu) Turkish: kayıp (tr)

hurtful condition resulting from losing

Armenian: կորուստ (hy) (korust) Dutch: verlies (nl) n., verslagenheid (nl) Finnish: menetys (fi) French: perte (fr) f.

Polish: strata (pl) f., utrata (pl) f. Scottish Gaelic: call (gd) m. Swahili: hasara (sw) Turkish: kayıp (tr)

casualties

Armenian: կորուստ (hy) (korust) Dutch: verliezen (nl) pl. Finnish: häviöt (fi) pl. Hungarian: veszteség (hu)

Polish: straty (pl) pl. Scottish Gaelic: call (gd) m. Turkish: kayıp (tr)

financial: negative result on balance

Armenian: վնաս (hy) (vnas) Catalan: pèrdua (ca) f. Czech: ztráta (cs) f. Dutch: verlies (nl) n. Finnish: tappio (fi) French: perte (fr) f.

German: Verlust (de) m. Hungarian: veszteség (hu) Japanese: 損益 (ja) (son'eki) Polish: strata (pl) f. Portuguese: perda (pt) f. Scottish Gaelic: call (gd) m.

engineering: power expended without doing useful work

Dutch: verlies n., stroomverlies (electrical), krachtverlies (mechanical), warmteverlies (thermic) Finnish: häviö (fi)

Hungarian: veszteség (hu) Japanese: 損失 (ja) (そんしつ, sonshitsu)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

• Interlingua: perdita
• Norwegian: tap
• Romanian: pierdere f.
• Spanish: pérdida
• Swedish: förlust u

Related terms

• at a loss

Statistics

• Most common English words before 1923: plan · pain · official · #940: loss · spot · wonderful · shook

Anagrams

• sols, Sols

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Estonian

Etymology

From German Schloss.

Noun

loss (^??? please provide the genitive and partitive!)

1. castle

Declension

This Estonian entry needs a declension template

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Swedish

Etymology

Related to lös

Adjective

loss

1. loose, untied

Adverb

loss

1. loosely