loss

See also: los, löss, løss, and lóss

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English los, from Old English los (“damage, destruction, loss”), from Proto-Germanic *lusą (“dissolution, break-up, loss”), from Proto-Indo-European *lews- (“to cut, sunder, separate, loose, lose”). Cognate with Icelandic los (“dissolution, looseness, break-up”), Old English lor, forlor (“loss, ruin”), Middle High German verlor (“loss, ruin”). More at lose.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /lɒs/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /lɔs/
• (cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA^(key): /lɑs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒs, -ɔːs

Noun

loss (countable and uncountable, plural losses)

1. (countable) The result of no longer possessing an object, a function, or a characteristic due to external causes or misplacement.

   Antonym: gain

   loss of limb; weight loss; loss of cognitive functions; loss of appetite.

   In other areas, glacier loss creates serious risk of a dry period across the Third Pole, Wang said.

2. (uncountable) The destruction or ruin of an object.
3. (countable) Something that has been destroyed or ruined.

   It was a terrible crash; both cars were total losses.

4. (countable) Defeat; an instance of being defeated.

   Antonyms: win, victory

   The match ended in their first loss of the season.

5. (countable) The death of a person or animal.

   We mourn his loss.

   The battle was won, but losses were great.

6. (uncountable) The condition of grief caused by losing someone or something, especially someone who has died.

   Her daughter's sense of loss eventually led to depression.

7. (financial, countable) The sum an entity loses on balance.

   Antonym: profit

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

8. (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

• The possessive of loss is often constructed as loss of rather than 's loss.
• loss is often the subject of the verbs make or take. See Appendix:Collocations of do, have, make, and take

Derived terms

• at a loss
• blood loss, bloodloss
• for a loss
• loss leader
• loss ratio
• profit and loss
• total loss

 

Related terms

• lose

Translations

the result of no longer possessing something

• Arabic: خَسَارَة‎ f (ḵasāra), فِقْدَان‎ m (fiqdān)

  Egyptian Arabic: خسارة‎ f (ḵusāra)

  Hijazi Arabic: خَسارة‎ f (ḵasāra)

• Belarusian: стра́та f (stráta), утра́так m (utrátak), згу́ба f (zhúba)
• Bulgarian: за́губа (bg) f (záguba)
• Catalan: pèrdua (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 損失 (zh), 损失 (zh) (sǔnshī)

• Czech: ztráta (cs) f
• Egyptian: (nhw)
• Esperanto: perdo
• Finnish: menetys (fi), väheneminen, tappio (fi), hävikki (fi), häviö (fi)
• French: perte (fr) f
• Galician: perda f
• German: Verlust (de) m
• Hindi: हानि (hi) f (hāni)
• Italian: perdita (it) f
• Japanese: 損失 (ja) (そんしつ, sonshitsu)

• Korean: 손실 (ko) (sonsil)
• Macedonian: загуба f (zaguba)
• Malayalam: നഷ്ടം (ml) (naṣṭaṃ)
• Persian: خسارت‎ (fa) (xesârat)
• Polish: utrata (pl) f, strata (pl) f
• Portuguese: perda (pt) f
• Russian: поте́ря (ru) f (potérja), уте́ря (ru) f (utérja), утра́та (ru) f (utráta), пропа́жа (ru) f (propáža)
• Scottish Gaelic: call m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: губи́так m

  Roman: gubítak (sh) m

• Slovak: strata f
• Slovene: izguba (sl) f
• Spanish: pérdida (es) f
• Tajik: хисорат (xisorat)
• Ukrainian: втра́та f (vtráta), утра́та f (utráta) (alternative form)
• Vietnamese: sự mất (vi)
• Yiddish: אַבֿדה‎ f (aveyde)

destruction or ruin of an object

• Arabic: ضَرَر‎ (ar) m (ḍarar)
• Bulgarian: щета́ (bg) f (štetá)
• Finnish: tuho (fi), tuhoutuminen
• Hindi: क्षति (hi) f (kṣati)

• Persian: ضرر‎ (fa) (zarar)
• Russian: поте́ря (ru) f (potérja), утра́та (ru) f (utráta), уще́рб (ru) m (uščérb)
• Scottish Gaelic: beud m
• Tajik: зарар (tg) (zarar)

something destroyed

• Finnish: menetys (fi)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: (ship at sea) forlis (no) n

  Nynorsk: (ship at sea) forlis n

• Russian: поте́ря (ru) f (potérja), утра́та (ru) f (utráta)

defeat — See also translations at defeat

• Arabic: ^{(please verify)} خَسَارَة‎ f (ḵasāra)

  Hijazi Arabic: خَسَارة‎ (ḵasāra), هزيمة‎ f (hazīma)

• Armenian: պարտություն (hy) (partutʿyun)
• Bulgarian: ^{(please verify)} за́губа (bg) (záguba)
• Catalan: derrota (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 滅失 (zh), 灭失 (zh) (mièshī)

• Czech: ^{(please verify)} prohra f
• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} verlies (nl) n, nederlaag (nl), verliezen (nl) n
• Finnish: tappio (fi), häviö (fi)
• French: défaite (fr) f
• Galician: derrota (gl) f, perda f
• German: (in a game or war) Niederlage (de) f
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: ^{(please verify)} ἧσσα f (hêssa)

• Japanese: 負け (ja) (まけ, make), 敗北 (ja) (はいぼく, haiboku)

• Malay: ^{(please verify)} kekalahan
• Persian: ^{(please verify)} باخت‎ (fa) (bâxt)
• Polish: (in a game) przegrana (pl) f, porażka (pl) f
• Portuguese: ^{(please verify)} perda (pt) f
• Russian: (in a game) про́игрыш (ru) m (próigryš), (in a game or war) пораже́ние (ru) n (poražénije)
• Scottish Gaelic: call m
• Spanish: derrota (es)
• Swahili: ^{(please verify)} hasara (sw)
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} förlust (sv) c
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} ఓటమి (te) (ōṭami), పరాజయం (te) (parājayaṁ)
• Thai: ^{(please verify)} ความสูญหาย (kwaam-sǔun-hǎai)
• Ukrainian: (in a game) про́граш (próhraš), (in a battle) пора́зка (porázka)
• Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} mất (vi)
• Westrobothnian: ^{(please verify)} misst m

the death of a person or animal

• Arabic: خَسَارَة‎ f (ḵasāra)
• Belarusian: стра́та f (stráta), згу́ба f (zhúba)
• Bulgarian: за́губа (bg) f (záguba)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 損失 (zh), 损失 (zh) (sǔnshī)

• Czech: ztráta (cs) f
• Finnish: lähtö (fi) (of a single person, animal, etc.), poistuminen (fi) (of a single person, animal, etc.), kuolonuhrit pl ("losses")
• French: perte (fr) f
• Galician: perda f
• German: Verlust (de) m

• Italian: morte (it) f
• Japanese: 損失 (ja) (そんしつ, sonjitsu)
• Korean: 손실(損失) (ko) (sonsil)
• Macedonian: загуба f (zaguba)
• Malayalam: വിയോഗം (ml) (viyōgaṃ)
• Polish: strata (pl) f
• Russian: поте́ря (ru) f (potérja), утра́та (ru) f (utráta)
• Scottish Gaelic: call m
• Slovak: strata f
• Ukrainian: втра́та f (vtráta), згу́ба f (zhúba), стра́та f (stráta)

grief caused by losing someone or something

• Armenian: կորուստ (hy) (korust)
• Dutch: verlies (nl) n, verslagenheid (nl)
• Finnish: menetys (fi)
• French: perte (fr) f
• Galician: pesar (gl) m
• German: Verlust (de) m
• Italian: lutto (it) m

• Ladino: mankansa f
• Norman: pèrte f
• Polish: strata (pl) f, utrata (pl) f
• Portuguese: pesar (pt) m
• Russian: утра́та (ru) f (utráta)
• Scottish Gaelic: call m
• Swahili: hasara (sw)
• Turkish: kayıp (tr)

financial: the sum lost on balance

• Armenian: վնաս (hy) (vnas)
• Bulgarian: за́губа (bg) f (záguba)
• Catalan: pèrdua (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 虧損 (zh), 亏损 (zh) (kuīsǔn)

• Czech: ztráta (cs) f
• Dutch: verlies (nl) n
• Finnish: tappio (fi)
• French: perte (fr) f
• German: Verlust (de) m

• Hungarian: veszteség (hu)
• Italian: perdita (it) f, passivo (it) m
• Japanese: 損益 (ja) (そんえき, son'eki)
• Maori: moni ngaro
• Norman: pèrte f
• Polish: strata (pl) f
• Portuguese: perda (pt) f
• Russian: убы́ток (ru) m (ubýtok), поте́ря (ru) f (potérja)
• Scottish Gaelic: call m
• Swedish: förlust (sv) c
• Ukrainian: зби́тки (zbýtky)

engineering: power expended without doing useful work

• Bulgarian: за́губа (bg) f (záguba)
• Dutch: verlies (nl) n, (electrical) stroomverlies, (mechanical) krachtverlies (nl), (thermic) warmteverlies
• Finnish: häviö (fi)
• Hungarian: veszteség (hu)

• Japanese: 損失 (ja) (そんしつ, sonshitsu)
• Polish: straty f pl
• Russian: поте́ря (ru) f (potérja)
• Swedish: förlust (sv)

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 Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Czech: ^{(please verify)} ztráta (cs) f
• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} verlies (nl) n
• French: ^{(please verify)} perte (fr) f
• Georgian: ^{(please verify)} წაგება (c̣ageba)
• German: ^{(please verify)} Verlust (de) m
• Hungarian: ^{(please verify)} veszteség (hu)
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} perdita
• Irish: ^{(please verify)} anachain (ga) f
• Malay: ^{(please verify)} kerugian
• Norman: ^{(please verify)} pèrte f
• Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} tap (no)

• Persian: ^{(please verify)} زیان‎ (fa) (ziyân)
• Portuguese: perda (pt) f
• Quechua: ^{(please verify)} chinka
• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} pierdere (ro) f
• Swahili: ^{(please verify)} hasara (sw)
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} förluster (sv) pl
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} నష్టము (te) (naṣṭamu)
• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} kayıp (tr)
• Ukrainian: ^{(please verify)} втра́та (vtráta)

Etymology 2

Pronunciation spelling of lost, representing African-American Vernacular English.

Verb

loss

1. (colloquial) Alternative spelling of lost

Anagrams

• SOLs, Sols, sols

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Estonian

Etymology

Borrowed from German Schloss.

Noun

loss (genitive lossi, partitive lossi)

1. castle

Declension

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

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Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

loss

1. imperative of losse

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Swedish

Etymology

Like Danish los and Norwegian loss, from Low German or Dutch los, from Middle Low German respectively Middle Dutch los, sidoform of Low German lōs respectively Dutch loos, cognate with Swedish lös.

Adjective

loss

1. (indeclinable, predicatively, adverbially) loose, untied, off

   den kom loss

   it came off

Anagrams

• sols