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Progress vs Profit - What's the difference?

progress | profit |

In transitive terms the difference between progress and profit

is that progress is to move (something) forward; to advance, to expedite while profit is to benefit (somebody), be of use to (somebody).

As nouns the difference between progress and profit

is that progress is movement or advancement through a series of events, or points in time; development through time while profit is 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.

As verbs the difference between progress and profit

is that progress is to move, go, or proceed forward; to advance while profit is to benefit (somebody), be of use to (somebody).

progress

Alternative forms

* (archaic)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) .

Noun

  • Movement or advancement through a series of events, or points in time; development through time.
  • Testing for the new antidote is currently in progress .
  • Specifically, advancement to a higher or more developed state; development, growth.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2012-01
  • , author=Stephen Ledoux , title=Behaviorism at 100 , volume=100, issue=1, page=60 , magazine= citation , passage=Becoming more aware of the progress that scientists have made on behavioral fronts can reduce the risk that other natural scientists will resort to mystical agential accounts when they exceed the limits of their own disciplinary training.}}
    Science has made extraordinary progress in the last fifty years.
  • An official journey made by a monarch or other high personage; a state journey, a circuit.
  • * 2011 , Thomas Penn, Winter King , Penguin 2012, p. 124:
  • With the king about to go on progress , the trials and executions were deliberately timed.
  • * 1887 , (Thomas Hardy), The Woodlanders :
  • Now Tim began to be struck with these loitering progresses along the garden boundaries in the gloaming, and wondered what they boded.
  • Movement onwards or forwards or towards a specific objective or direction; advance.
  • The thick branches overhanging the path made progress difficult.
    Usage notes
    * To make progress'' is often used instead of the verb ''progress''. This allows complex modification of ''progress in ways that can not be well approximated by adverbs modifying the verb. See

    Etymology 2

    From the noun. Lapsed into disuse in the 17th century, except in the US. Considered an Americanism on reintroduction to use in the UK.

    Verb

    (es)
  • to move, go, or proceed forward; to advance.
  • They progress through the museum.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=October 1 , author=Tom Fordyce , title=Rugby World Cup 2011: England 16-12 Scotland , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=Scotland needed a victory by eight points to have a realistic chance of progressing to the knock-out stages, and for long periods of a ferocious contest looked as if they might pull it off.}}
  • to improve; to become better or more complete.
  • Societies progress unevenly.
  • To move (something) forward; to advance, to expedite.
  • * 2011 , Thomas Penn, Winter King , Penguin 2012, p. 266:
  • Or […] they came to progress matters in which Dudley had taken a hand, and left defrauded or bound over to the king.
    Antonyms
    * congress * regress * retrogress

    profit

    English

    (wikipedia profit)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • 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.
  • * Rambler
  • Let no man anticipate uncertain profits .
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= T time , passage=The ability to shift profits' to low-tax countries by locating intellectual property in them, which is then licensed to related businesses in high-tax countries, is often assumed to be the preserve of high-tech companies. […] current tax rules make it easy for all sorts of firms to generate […] “stateless income”: ' profit subject to tax in a jurisdiction that is neither the location of the factors of production that generate the income nor where the parent firm is domiciled.}}
  • (dated, literary) Benefit, positive result obtained.
  • * Bible, 1 Corinthians vii. 35
  • This I speak for your own profit .
  • * Shakespeare
  • if you dare do yourself a profit and a right
  • (legal) In property law, a nonpossessory interest in land whereby a party is entitled to enter the land of another for the purpose of taking the soil or the substance of the soil (coal, oil, minerals, and in some jurisdictions timber and game).
  • Usage notes

    Regarding the income sense, when the difference is negative the term loss is correct. Negative profit does appear in microeconomics. Profit by a government agency is called a surplus.

    Synonyms

    * gain

    Antonyms

    * loss

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To benefit (somebody), be of use to (somebody).
  • * Bible, Hebrews iv. 2
  • The word preached did not profit them.
  • * Dryden
  • It is a great means of profiting yourself, to copy diligently excellent pieces and beautiful designs.
  • To benefit, gain.
  • To take advantage of, exploit, use.
  • Derived terms

    * book profit * for-profit * for fun and profit * nonprofit * not-for-profit * paper profit * profit from * profitable * profitably * profiteer * profit margin * profit sharing * profit taking