gain
Part of speech: verb
noun
Morphological type: simple
Topics: business
electrical-engineering
electricity
electromagnetism
electronics
energy
engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
physics
Etymology: 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 wide.
Inflected forms:
form: gains
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: gaining
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: gained
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: gained
pos: verb
tags: past
form: no-table-tags
pos: verb
tags: table-tags
form: glossary
pos: verb
tags: inflection-template
form: gain
pos: verb
tags: infinitive
form: gain
pos: verb
tags: first-person
present
singular
form: gained
pos: verb
tags: first-person
past
singular
form: gain'd
pos: verb
tags: archaic
first-person
past
singular
form: gain
pos: verb
tags: present
second-person
singular
form: gainest
pos: verb
tags: archaic
present
second-person
singular
form: gained
pos: verb
tags: past
second-person
singular
form: gainedst
pos: verb
tags: archaic
past
second-person
singular
form: gain'd
pos: verb
tags: archaic
past
second-person
singular
form: gains
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: gaineth
pos: verb
tags: archaic
present
singular
third-person
form: gained
pos: verb
tags: past
singular
third-person
form: gain'd
pos: verb
tags: archaic
past
singular
third-person
form: gain
pos: verb
tags: plural
present
form: gained
pos: verb
tags: past
plural
form: gain'd
pos: verb
tags: archaic
past
plural
form: gain
pos: verb
tags: present
subjunctive
form: gained
pos: verb
tags: past
subjunctive
form: gain'd
pos: verb
tags: archaic
past
subjunctive
form: gain
pos: verb
tags: imperative
present
form: -
pos: verb
tags: imperative
past
form: gaining
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: gained
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: gain'd
pos: verb
tags: archaic
participle
past
form: gains
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: To acquire possession of.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Looks like you’ve gained a new friend.
What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
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.’
gloss: To have or receive advantage or profit; to acquire gain; to grow rich; to advance in interest, health, or happiness; to make progress.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: The sick man gains daily.
Thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion.
gloss: To come off winner or victor in; to be successful in; to obtain by competition.
pos: verb
tags: dated
transitive
examples: to gain a battle; to gain a case at law
gloss: To increase.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Then they had bouts of wrestling and of cudgel play, so that every day they gained in skill and strength.
gloss: To grow more likely to catch or overtake someone.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
often
with-on
examples: to gain ground
I’m gaining (on you).
gloss: To reach.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: to gain the top of a mountain
Ernest laughed harshly and savagely when he had gained the street.
gloss: To draw into any interest or party; to win to one’s side; to conciliate.
pos: verb
examples: If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
to gratify the queen, and gain the court
gloss: To put on weight.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: I’ve been gaining.
Thinspo, bonespo, meanspo, sweetspo, anything that could motivate me not to eat, not to consume, not to gain, not to fail.
gloss: To run fast, often by a specified amount.
pos: verb
tags: ambitransitive
dated
examples: Don't rely on that clock: it gains.
"Don't hurry immediately after your breakfast, Geoffrey. You know that clock gains five minutes every day and it's only—" called out Miss Tilehurst, but Geoffrey was technically out of earshot then […]
gloss: The act of gaining; acquisition.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: People are more willing to take a risk to avoid a loss than to make a gain.
All running headlong after greedie ſpoiles:
And more regarding gaine than victorie:
the lust of gain, in the spirit of Cain
When power is sought primarily for private gain, the social fabric decays and unravels.
gloss: The thing or things gained.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: Everyone shall share in the gains.
gloss: The factor by which a signal is multiplied.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: 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: lose
loss
Derived words: gainable
gainer
gain ground
gain line
gain momentum
gain on
gain one's spurs
gain over
gain steam
gain the wind
gain time
gain traction
gain upon
gain weight
outgain
overgain
undergain
ungained
what you gain on the swings you lose on the roundabouts
what you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabouts
autogain
brain-gain
brain gain
capital gain
gain-ground
gainless
gain-of-function
gain of function
gain-of-function research
gainsharing
gain-sharing
gainside
gain twist
gainwise
gainword
gainworthy
line to gain
loss and gain are brothers twain
maingain
no gain without pain
one man's loss is another man's gain
photogain
solar gain
time-compensated gain
time-gain compensation
time-varied gain
time-varied gain control
weight gain
gainful
gainsome
Translations: