Wiktionary

gain

See also: Gain, gain-, and ga in

English

edit

Pronunciation

edit
  • enPR: gān, IPA(key): /ɡeɪn/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -eɪn

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 wide.

Verb

edit

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

  1. (transitive) To acquire possession of.
    Looks like you’ve gained a new friend.
  2. (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.
  3. (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
  4. (transitive) To increase.
  5. (intransitive, often with on) To grow more likely to catch or overtake someone.
    to gain ground
    I’m gaining (on you).
  6. (transitive) To reach.
    to gain the top of a mountain
  7. To draw into any interest or party; to win to one’s side; to conciliate.
  8. (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.
  10. (of a clock or watch) To run fast.
Conjugation
edit
Conjugation of gain
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†

†Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms
edit
Translations
edit

Noun

edit

gain (countable and uncountable, plural gains)

  1. 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[1]:
      When power is sought primarily for private gain, the social fabric decays and unravels.
  2. The thing or things gained.
  3. (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
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

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

  1. (obsolete) Against.
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)

  1. (obsolete or dialectal) Straight, direct; near; short.
    the gainest way
    • 1485 July, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter XX, in William Caxton, editor, Le Morte D’Arthur‎[2], 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.
  2. (obsolete or dialectal) Suitable; convenient; ready.
  3. (dialectal) Easy; tolerable; handy, dexterous.
  4. (dialectal) Honest; respectable; moderate; cheap.
Derived terms
edit
Translations
edit

Adverb

edit

gain (comparative more gain, superlative most gain)

  1. (obsolete or dialectal) Straightly; quickly; by the nearest way or means.
  2. (dialectal) Suitably; conveniently; dexterously; moderately.
  3. (dialectal) Tolerably; fairly.
    gain quiet ― fairly/pretty quiet

Etymology 4

edit

Compare Welsh gan (“a mortise”).

Noun

edit

gain (plural gains)

  1. (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

  1. upper part, top
    Synonym: gainalde
  2. summit
    Synonym: tontor
  3. cream (butterfat part of milk which rises to the top)
    Synonyms: esne-gain, goien
  4. (figurative) cream (the best part of something)

Declension

edit
Declension of gain (inanimate, ending in consonant)
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

Further reading

edit
  • “gain”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy], Euskaltzaindia
  • “gain”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005

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)

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

Derived terms

edit

See also

edit

Further reading

edit

Louisiana Creole

edit

Etymology

edit

From French gagner (“to gain”), compare Haitian Creole gen.

Verb

edit

gain

  1. 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
  • IPA(key): /ɡæi̯n/, /ɡeːn/, /jæi̯n/, /jeːn/

Preposition

edit

gain

  2. against, next to, touching
  3. (figurative) against, opposed to, counter to, opposing (usually used in religious and spiritual contexts)
  4. towards, to, nearing
  5. (rare) on, on top of
  6. (rare) facing, pointed towards
Descendants
edit
  • English: gain (obsolete)
  • Scots: gain, gin
References
edit

Adverb

edit

gain

  1. back (to), returning (to)
References
edit

Etymology 2

edit

Adjective

edit

gain

  1. Alternative form of gayn (“direct, fast, good, helpful”)

Etymology 3

edit

Noun

edit

gain

  1. Alternative form of gayn (“gain, reward, advantage”)

Etymology 4

edit

Verb

edit

gain

  1. Alternative form of gaynen

Middle French

edit

Etymology

edit

Old French gaaing.

Noun

edit

gain m (plural gains)

  1. 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

References

edit
  • gain on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)

Welsh

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Adjective

edit

gain

  1. Soft mutation of cain.

Mutation

edit
Mutated forms of cain
radical soft nasal aspirate
cain gain nghain chain

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=gain&oldid=82632936"
  NODES
Community 1
HOME 1
languages 1
mac 3
Note 3
os 24
text 1
Verify 9