Earn vs Return - What's the difference?

As verbs the difference between earn and return

is that earn is (lb) to gain (success, reward, recognition) through applied effort or work or earn can be (uk|dialect|dated) to curdle, as milk or earn can be (obsolete) to long; to yearn while return is to come or go back (to a place or person).

As nouns the difference between earn and return

is that earn is while return is the act of returning.

earn

English

Etymology 1

Old English earnian

Verb

(en verb)

(lb) To gain (success, reward, recognition) through applied effort or work.

*:Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations. It is easily earned repetition to state that Josephine St. Auban's was a presence not to be concealed.

*{{quote-news, year=2011, date=November 12, work=BBC Sport

, title= International friendly: England 1-0 Spain , passage=England will not be catapulted among the favourites for Euro 2012 as a result of this win, but no victory against Spain is earned easily and it is right they take great heart from their efforts as they now prepare to play Sweden at Wembley on Tuesday.}}

(lb) To receive payment for work.

:(rfex)

(lb) To receive payment for work.

(lb) To cause (someone) to receive payment or reward.

(lb) To be worthy of.

Synonyms

* (gain through applied effort or work) deserve, merit, garner, win * * * (cause someone to receive payment or reward) yield, make, generate, render

Derived terms

* earner * earnings * earn one's keep

Etymology 2

Anglo-Saxon irnan to run. See rennet, and compare yearnings.

Verb

(en verb)

(UK, dialect, dated) To curdle, as milk.

Etymology 3

Verb

(en verb)

(obsolete) To long; to yearn.

* Spenser

And ever as he rode, his heart did earn / To prove his puissance in battle brave.

(obsolete) To grieve.

Etymology 4

Noun

(en noun)

(Sir Walter Scott)

(Webster 1913)

Anagrams

* 1000 English basic words ----

return

English

Verb

(en verb)

To come or go back (to a place or person).

, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on an afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.}}

*{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)

, chapter=19 citation , passage=As soon as Julia returned with a constable, Timothy, who was on the point of exhaustion, prepared to give over to him gratefully. The newcomer turned out to be a powerful youngster, fully trained and eager to help, and he stripped off his tunic at once.}}

To go back in thought, narration, or argument.

(obsolete) To turn back, retreat.

*, Bk.V:

*:‘I suppose here is none woll be glad to returne – and as for me,’ seyde Sir Cador, ‘I had lever dye this day that onys to turne my bak.’

(obsolete) To turn (something) round.

*, Bk.X, Ch.xiij:

*:Whan Kyng Marke harde hym sey that worde, he returned his horse and abode by hym.

To put (place) something back where it had been.

To give something back to its original holder or owner.

To take something back to a retailer for a refund.

To give in requital or recompense; to requite.

*Bible, 1 Kings ii.44

*:The Lord shall return thy wickedness upon thine own head.

(tennis) To bat the ball back over the net in response to a serve.

(card games) To play a card as a result of another player's lead.

(cricket) To throw a ball back to the wicket-keeper (or a fielder at that position) from somewhere in the field.

To say in reply; to respond.

:to return''' an answer; to '''return thanks

*1897 , (Henry James), (What Maisie Knew)

*:‘Ah my good friend, I do look out!’ the young man returned while Maisie helped herself afresh to bread and butter.

(computing) To relinquish control to the calling procedure.

(computing) To pass (data) back to the calling procedure.

(dated) To retort; to throw back.

:to return the lie

*Dryden

*:If you are a malicious reader, you return upon me, that I affect to be thought more impartial than I am.

To report, or bring back and make known.

:to return the result of an election

*Bible, Exodus xix.8

*:And all the people answered together,and Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord.

(by extension, UK) To elect according to the official report of the election officers.

Derived terms

(Terms derived from the verb "return") * return to form

Noun

(en noun)

The act of returning.

, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=2 , passage=I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […], and finally leading me to his buggy, turned and drove out of town. I was completely mystified at such an unusual proceeding.}}

A return ticket.

An item that is returned, e.g. due to a defect, or the act of returning it.

An answer.

a return to one's question

An account, or formal report, of an action performed, of a duty discharged, of facts or statistics, etc.; especially, in the plural, a set of tabulated statistics prepared for general information.

election returns'''; a '''return of the amount of goods produced or sold

Gain or loss from an investment.

* Jeremy Taylor

The fruit from many days of recreation is very little; but from these few hours we spend in prayer, the return is great.

* {{quote-news, year=2012, date=April 22, author=Sam Sheringham, work=BBC Sport

, title= Liverpool 0-1 West Brom , passage=Liverpool have now won only five of their 17 home league games this season. It is a poor return for a team of Liverpool's pedigree and resources but, once again, Kenny Dalglish's team were the instigators of their own downfall as chance after chance went begging.}}

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-06, volume=408, issue=8843, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= The rise of smart beta , passage=Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return' of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of ' return .}}

(taxation, finance): A report of income submitted to a government for purposes of specifying exact tax payment amounts. A tax return.

(computing) A carriage return character.

(computing) The act of relinquishing control to the calling procedure.

(computing) A return value: the data passed back from a called procedure.

A short perpendicular extension of a desk, usually slightly lower.

(American football) Catching a ball after a punt and running it back towards the opposing team.

(cricket) A throw from a fielder to the wicket-keeper or to another fielder at the wicket.

The continuation in a different direction, most often at a right angle, of a building, face of a building, or any member, such as a moulding; applied to the shorter in contradistinction to the longer.

A facade of sixty feet east and west has a return of twenty feet north and south.

Synonyms

* (l)

Derived terms

(Terms derived from the noun "return") * abnormal return * absolute return * active return * amended return * annual return * carriage return * day return * dollar return * exante return * excess return * expected return * exponential return * false return * hard return * in return * information return * joint return * many happy returns * market return * mean return * non-return * point of no return * rate of return * real return * relative return * return address * return crease * return day * return extrasystole * return flow * return key * return of capital * return on assests * return on capital emlpoyed * return on equity * return on invested capital * return on investment * return on net assets * return on sales * return stroke * return ticket * return to form * Return To Zero * return address * risk-adjsuted return * risk-free return * risk-return tradeoff * safety-net return/safety net return * soft return * subperiod return * tax return * total return * venous return

Statistics

Anagrams

* English reporting verbs 1000 English basic words