gain
/ɡeɪn/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.81 in modern English
5
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To have or receive advantage or profit; to acquire gain; to grow rich; to advance in interest, health, or happiness; to make progress.
Intransitive verb
verb
To come off winner or victor in; to be successful in; to obtain by competition.
Dated; Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "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.’"
- "The sick man gains daily."
- "Thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion."
- "to gain a battle; to gain a case at law"
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: gayn, gagn, *gagną, *gagana, *ga-, *ḱóm
Usage
Inflected Forms
gains (present, singular)
gaining (participle, present)
gained (participle, past)
gained (past)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
gained (first person, past)
gain'd (archaic, first person)
gainest (archaic, present)
gained (past, second person)
gainedst (archaic, past)
gain'd (archaic, past)