Benefit vs Gain - What's the difference?
benefit | gain |
An advantage, help, sake or aid from something.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5
, passage=When this conversation was repeated in detail within the hearing of the young woman in question, and undoubtedly for his benefit , Mr. Trevor threw shame to the winds and scandalized the Misses Brewster then and there by proclaiming his father to have been a country storekeeper.}}
A payment made in accordance with an insurance policy or a public assistance scheme.
A performance, etc, given to raise funds for some cause.
(obsolete) beneficence; liberality
To be or to provide a benefit to.
* Bible, Jer. xviii. 10
To receive a benefit (from); to be a beneficiary.
(obsolete) Straight, direct; near; short.
(obsolete) Suitable; convenient; ready.
(dialectal) Easy; tolerable; handy, dexterous.
(dialectal) Honest; respectable; moderate; cheap.
(obsolete) Straightly; quickly; by the nearest way or means.
(dialectal) Suitably; conveniently; dexterously; moderately.
(dialectal) Tolerably; fairly.
The act of gaining.
* Tennyson
What one gains, as a return on investment or dividend.
* Shakespeare
(electronics) The factor by which a signal is multiplied.
To acquire possession of what one did not have before.
* Bible, Matthew xvi. 26
* Alexander Pope
To have or receive advantage or profit; to acquire gain; to grow rich; to advance in interest, health, or happiness; to make progress.
* Bible, Ezekiel xxii. 12
(dated) To come off winner or victor in; to be successful in; to obtain by competition.
To increase.
* 1883 , (Howard Pyle), (The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood)
To be more likely to catch or overtake an individual.
To reach.
* 1907 , Jack London, The Iron Heel :
To draw into any interest or party; to win to one's side; to conciliate.
* Bible, Matthew xviii. 15
* Dryden
To put on weight.
(of a clock or watch) To run fast.
(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.
In obsolete terms the difference between benefit and gain
is that benefit is beneficence; liberality while gain is straightly; quickly; by the nearest way or means.In transitive terms the difference between benefit and gain
is that benefit is to be or to provide a benefit to while gain is to reach.In intransitive terms the difference between benefit and gain
is that benefit is to receive a benefit (from); to be a beneficiary while gain is to put on weight.As a preposition gain is
against.As an adjective gain is
straight, direct; near; short.As an adverb gain is
straightly; quickly; by the nearest way or means.benefit
English
Noun
(en noun)Derived terms
* beneficial * benefiterSynonyms
* (advantage, help ): foredeal, advantage, aid, assistance, boon, help * (payment ): subsidyAntonyms
* (advantage, help ): disadvantage, encumbrance, hindrance, nuisance, obstacle, detrimentSee also
* lagniappeVerb
- I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
Usage notes
* Benefiting and benefited are more common, with benefitting and benefitted being a minor variant especially in the US.Synonyms
* help, battenAntonyms
* malefic * detrimentDerived terms
(terms derived from "benefit") * benefit association * benefit dollar * benefit in kind * benefit of clergy * benefit principle * benefit society * benefit-cost analysis * benefit-cost ratio * benefits coordinator * bennies * cafeteria benefit * child tax benefit * core benefit * cost-benefit analysis * death benefit * elective benefit * employee benefit * equivalent annual benefit * family benefit * friend with benefits * fringe benefit * income-related benefit * injury benefit * maternity benefit * means-tested benefit * nonstatutory fringe benefit * nonwage benefit * private benefit * risk-benefit * sickness benefit * state benefit * stranded benefit * supplementary benefit * survivor benefit * unemployment benefit * variable death benefit *gain
English
Etymology 1
From dialectal English (m), (m), short for (m), . More at (l).Derived terms
* (l)Etymology 2
From (etyl) (m), (m), , from the adjective.Adjective
(en adjective)- the gainest way
Derived terms
* (l) * (l)Adverb
(en adverb)- gain quiet (= fairly/pretty quiet)
Etymology 3
From (etyl) (m), . The Middle English word was reinforced by (etyl) . Related to (l), (l).Noun
(en noun)- the lust of gain
- No pain, no gain .
- Everyone shall share in the gains .
Antonyms
* lossDerived terms
* autogain * gainful * gainsomeVerb
(en verb)- 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?
- For fame with toil we gain , but lose with ease.
- The sick man gains daily.
- Thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion.
- to gain''' a battle; to '''gain a case at law
- Then they had bouts of wrestling and of cudgel play, so that every day they gained in skill and strength.
- I'm gaining (on you).
- gain ground
- to gain the top of a mountain
- Ernest laughed harshly and savagely when he had gained the street.
- If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
- to gratify the queen, and gain the court
- I've been gaining .