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PlainSpell

profit

prof·it/ˈpɹɑfɪt/noun, verb

profit is spelled P-R-O-F-I-T: 6 letters and 2 syllables (prof·it). It appears 50 times per million words in written English, the 2,041st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “profit vs prophet” about 10 times a month (Bing, United States). As a noun, profit means “Total income or cash flow minus expenditures. The money or other benefit a non-governmental organization or individual receives in exchange for…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of profit is profits.

How many letters and syllables are in profit?

Letters6: P-R-O-F-I-T
Syllables2: prof·it
In writing50 times per million words; the 2,041st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is profit?

Profit appears 50 times per million words in written English, the 2,041st most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce profit?

  • UK /ˈpɹɒfɪt/
  • US /ˈpɹɑfɪt/
  • Canada /ˈpɹɒfɪt/

Profit has 2 syllables, split prof·it in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-profit.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with profit

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

profit vs prophet10 B

Sounds like: prophet (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with profit?

2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as profit from its last stressed vowel (/ɑfɪt/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of profit

  • profits plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • profiting participle, present
  • profited participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does profit mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    Total income or cash flow minus expenditures. The money or other benefit a non-governmental organization or individual receives in exchange for products and services sold at an advertised price.

    Let no man anticipate uncertain profits.

  2. 2

    datedBenefit, positive result obtained.

    Reading such an enlightening book on the subject was of much profit to his studies.

  3. 3

    Ellipsis of profit à prendre.

verb

  1. 1

    To benefit (somebody), be of use to (somebody).

  2. 2

    To benefit, gain.

  3. 3

    To take advantage of, exploit, use.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate profit?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of profit: prof.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Profit in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchprofit, gain, bénéfice (benefit), être profitable, servir (To benefit, be of use to), profiter (To benefit, gain)
GermanGewinn, Profit (benefit), nützen, profitieren (To benefit, be of use to), erreichen, gewinnen (To benefit, gain)
Portugueseproveito, lucro (benefit), lucrar (To benefit, gain), provento (total income or cash flow minus expenditures)
Spanishprovecho (benefit), aprovechar/lucrar [with a] (To benefit, be of use to), lucrarse [with de or con], aprovecer [with a], aprovecharse [with de] (To benefit, gain), lucro (total income or cash flow minus expenditures)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does profit come from?

From Middle English profit, from Old French profit (Modern French profit), from Latin prōfectus (“advance, progress, growth, increase, profit”), from proficiō (“to go forward, advance, make progress, be profitable or useful”). Doublet of profect.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after profit