different between gain vs use

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?e?n/
• Rhymes: -e?n

Etymology 1

From Middle English gayn, gain, gein (“profit, advantage”), from Old Norse gagn (“benefit, advantage, use”), from Proto-Germanic *gagn?, *gagan? (“gain, profit", literally "return”), from Proto-Germanic *gagana (“back, against, in return”), a reduplication of Proto-Germanic *ga- (“with, together”), from Proto-Indo-European *?óm (“next to, at, with, along”). Cognate with Icelandic gagn (“gain, advantage, use”), Swedish gagn (“benefit, profit”), Danish gavn (“gain, profit, success”), Gothic ???????????????????????????????? (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 (“to till, earn, win”), from Frankish *waidanjan (“to pasture, graze, hunt for food”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *waiþiz, *waiþ?, *waiþij? (“pasture, field, hunting ground”); compare Old High German weid?n, weidan?n (“to hunt, forage for food”) (Modern German Weide (“pasture”)), Old Norse veiða (“to catch, hunt”), Old English w?þan (“to hunt, chase, pursue”). Related to wathe, wide.

Verb

gain (third-person singular simple present gains, present participle gaining, simple past and past participle gained)

1. (transitive) To acquire possession of.

   Looks like you've gained a new friend.
2. (intransitive) To have or receive advantage or profit; to acquire gain; to grow rich; to advance in interest, health, or happiness; to make progress.

   The sick man gains daily.
3. (transitive, dated) To come off winner or victor in; to be successful in; to obtain by competition.

   to gain a battle; to gain a case at law

4. (transitive) To increase.
   • 1883, Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood Chapter V

     Then they had bouts of wrestling and of cudgel play, so that every day they gained in skill and strength.

5. (intransitive) To be more likely to catch or overtake an individual.

   I'm gaining (on you).

   gain ground

6. (transitive) To reach.

   to gain the top of a mountain

   • 1907, Jack London, The Iron Heel:

     Ernest laughed harshly and savagely when he had gained the street.

7. To draw into any interest or party; to win to one's side; to conciliate.

   • If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.

   • to gratify the queen, and gain the court

8. (intransitive) To put on weight.

   I've been gaining.

10. (of a clock or watch) To run fast.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

gain (countable and uncountable, plural gains)

1. The act of gaining; acquisition.
   • 1855, Alfred Tennyson, Maude

     the lust of gain, in the spirit of Cain

2. What is gained.
3. (electronics) The factor by which a signal is multiplied.
   • 1987, John Borwick, Sound recording practice (page 238)

     There follows the high and low-frequency replay equalization, which normally involves two adjustments with a further control allowing the replay gain to be set.

Antonyms

• loss

Derived terms

• autogain
• gainful
• gainsome
• gain-ground (game)

Translations

Etymology 2

From dialectal English gen, gin, short for again, agen (“against”); also Middle English gain, gayn, gein, ?æn (“against”), from Old English g?an, ge?n (“against”). More at against.

Preposition

gain

1. (obsolete) Against.

Derived terms

• gainful

Etymology 3

From Middle English gayn, gein, geyn (“straight, direct, short, fit, good”), from Old Norse gegn (“straight, direct, short, ready, serviceable, kindly”), from gegn (“opposite, against”, adverb) (whence gagna (“to go against, meet, suit, be meet”)); see below at gain. Adverb from Middle English gayn, gayne (“fitly, quickly”), from the adjective.

Adjective

gain (comparative more gain, superlative most gain)

1. (obsolete) Straight, direct; near; short.

   the gainest way

2. (obsolete) Suitable; convenient; ready.
3. (dialectal) Easy; tolerable; handy, dexterous.
4. (dialectal) Honest; respectable; moderate; cheap.

Translations

Derived terms

• gainly
• gainsome

Adverb

gain (comparative more gain, superlative most gain)

1. (obsolete) Straightly; quickly; by the nearest way or means.
2. (dialectal) Suitably; conveniently; dexterously; moderately.
3. (dialectal) Tolerably; fairly.

   gain quiet (= fairly/pretty quiet)

Etymology 4

Compare Welsh gan (“a mortise”).

Noun

gain (plural gains)

1. (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.

Anagrams

• Agin, Agni, Angi, Gina, NGIA, Nagi, Ngai, a- -ing, ag'in, agin, gina, inga

Basque

Noun

gain

1. summit

French

Etymology

From Middle French gain, from Old French gaaing, from the verb gaaignier (“to earn, gain, seize, conquer by force”), from Frankish *waidanjan (“to graze, forage, hunt”), from Proto-Germanic *waiþ? (“a hunt, pasture, food”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyh?- (“to seek, crave, hunt”). Cognate with Old High German weidan?n (“to hunt, chase”), German Weide (“pasture, pasturage”). Compare also related Old French gain (“harvest time, revival”), from Frankish *waida (“income, food, fodder”) (whence French regain), from the same Germanic source.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???/

Noun

gain m (plural gains)

1. (usually in the plural) winnings, earnings, takings
2. (finance) gain, yield

Derived terms

• gain de cause
• gain du temps

Further reading

• “gain” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Louisiana Creole French

Etymology

From French gagner (“to gain”), compare Haitian Creole gen.

Verb

gain

1. to have

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old Norse gegn.

Adjective

gain

1. Alternative form of gayn (“direct, fast, good, helpful”)

Etymology 2

From Old Norse gagn.

Noun

gain

1. Alternative form of gayn (“gain, reward, advantage”)

Etymology 3

From Old Norse gegna.

Verb

gain

1. Alternative form of gaynen

Etymology 4

From Old English ?e?n, gæ?n, from Proto-Germanic *gagin; also influenced by Old Norse gegn, from the same Proto-Germanic form. Doublet of gayn (“direct, fast, good, helpful”).

Alternative forms

• gayn, gein, ?æn, ?ein, ?ean, gayne, gen, gan, gaine, geyn

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??i?n/, /?e?n/, /j?i?n/, /je?n/

Preposition

gain

2. against, next to, touching
3. (figuratively) against, opposed to, counter to, opposing (usually used in religious and spiritual contexts)
4. towards, to, nearing
5. (rare) on, on top of
6. (rare) facing, pointed towards

Descendants

• English: gain (obsolete)
• Scots: gain, gin

References

• “y??n, prep.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-23.

Adverb

gain

1. back (to), returning (to)

References

• “y??n, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-23.

Middle French

Etymology

Old French gaaing.

Noun

gain m (plural gains)

1. income (financial)

Descendants

• French: gain

References

• gain on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ai?n/

Adjective

gain

1. Soft mutation of cain.

Mutation

English

Etymology

Noun from Middle English use, from Old French us, from Latin ?sus (“use, custom, skill, habit”), from past participle stem of ?tor (“use”). Displaced native Middle English note (“use”) (See note) from Old English notu, and Middle English nutte (“use”) from Old English nytt.

Verb from Middle English usen, from Old French user (“use, employ, practice”), from Vulgar Latin *usare (“use”), frequentative form of past participle stem of Latin uti (“to use”). Displaced native Middle English noten, nutten (“to use”) (from Old English notian, n?otan, nyttian) and Middle English brouken, bruken (“to use, enjoy”) (from Old English br?can).

Pronunciation

Noun

• enPR: yo?os, IPA^(key): /ju?s/
• Rhymes: -u?s

Verb

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: yo?oz, IPA^(key): /ju?z/
• (General American) enPR: yo?oz, IPA^(key): /juz/

Rhymes: -u?z

Homophones: ewes, yews, yous, youse

Noun

use (countable and uncountable, plural uses)

1. The act of using.

   Synonyms: employment, usage, note, nait

2. (uncountable) The act of consuming alcohol or narcotics.
3. (uncountable, followed by "of") Usefulness, benefit.

   Synonyms: benefit, good, point, usefulness, utility, note, nait

4. A function; a purpose for which something may be employed.

5. Occasion or need to employ; necessity.

6. (obsolete, rare) Interest for lent money; premium paid for the use of something; usury.
   • 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2 Scene 1

     DON PEDRO. Come, lady, come; you have lost the heart of Signior Benedick.

     BEATRICE. Indeed, my lord, he lent it me awhile; and I gave him use for it, a double heart for a single one: [...]

   • 1650, Jeremy Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living

     Thou art more obliged to pay duty and tribute, use and principal, to him.

7. (archaic) Continued or repeated practice; usage; habit.
8. (obsolete) Common occurrence; ordinary experience.
9. (Christianity) The special form of ritual adopted for use in any diocese.

   • From henceforth all the whole realm shall have but one use.

10. (forging) A slab of iron welded to the side of a forging, such as a shaft, near the end, and afterward drawn down, by hammering, so as to lengthen the forging.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

• no use
• what’s the use

Translations

Verb

use (third-person singular simple present uses, present participle using, simple past and past participle used)

1. To utilize or employ.
   1. (transitive) To employ; to apply; to utilize.
   2. (transitive, often with up) To expend; to consume by employing.

   3. (transitive) To exploit.
   4. (transitive) To consume (alcohol, drugs, etc), especially regularly.

      He uses cocaine. I have never used drugs.

   5. (intransitive) To consume a previously specified substance, especially a drug to which one is addicted.

   6. (transitive, with auxiliary "could") To benefit from; to be able to employ or stand.

2. To accustom; to habituate. (Now common only in participial form. Uses the same pronunciation as the noun; see usage notes.)

   (still common)

   (now rare)

   1. (reflexive, obsolete, with "to") To become accustomed, to accustom oneself.
      • 1714, Bernard Mandeville, The Fable of the Bees, London: T. Ostell, 1806, Sixth Dialogue, p. 466,^[1]

        It is not without some difficulty, that a man born in society can form an idea of such savages, and their condition; and unless he has used himself to abstract thinking, he can hardly represent to himself such a state of simplicity, in which man can have so few desires, and no appetites roving beyond the immediate call of untaught nature […]

      • 1742, Samuel Richardson, Pamela, London: S. Richardson, 4th edition, Volume 3, Letter 12, p. 53,^[2]

        So that reading constantly, and thus using yourself to write, and enjoying besides the Benefit of a good Memory, every thing you heard or read, became your own […]

      • 1769, John Leland, Discourses on Various Subjects, London: W. Johnston and J. Dodsley, Volume 1, Discourse 16, p. 311,^[3]

        […] we must be constant and faithful to our Words and Promises, and use ourselves to be so even in smaller Matters […]

      • 1876, George Eliot, Daniel Deronda, Book 3, Chapter 24,^[4]

        The family troubles, she thought, were easier for every one than for her—even for poor dear mamma, because she had always used herself to not enjoying.

3. (intransitive, now rare, literary, except in past tense) To habitually do; to be wont to do. (Now chiefly in past-tense forms; see used to.)
   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, 1 Peter 4:9,^[5]

     Use hospitality one to another without grudging.

   • 1764, Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto, II:

     I do not use to let my wife be acquainted with the secret affairs of my state; they are not within a woman's province.

4. (dated) To behave toward; to act with regard to; to treat.
   • c. 1590, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 3, Act II, Scene 6,^[6]

     See who it is: and, now the battle’s ended,

     If friend or foe, let him be gently used.

   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Luke 6:28,^[7]

     Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.

   • 1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem in IV Books, to which is added Samson Agonistes, London: John Starkey, p. 58,^[8]

     If in my flower of youth and strength, when all men / Lov’d, honour’d, fear’d me, thou alone could hate me / Thy Husband, slight me, sell me, forgo me; / How wouldst thou use me now, blind, and thereby / Deceivable […]

   • 1713, Joseph Addison, Cato: A Tragedy, London: J. Tonson, Act I, Scene 2, p. 6,^[9]

     Cato has used me Ill: He has refused / His Daughter Marcia to my ardent Vows.

   • , Book 8, Chapter 3,

     “I hope,” said Jones, “you don’t intend to leave me in this condition.” “Indeed but I shall,” said the other. “Then,” said Jones, “you have used me rascally, and I will not pay you a farthing.”

5. (reflexive, obsolete) To behave, act, comport oneself.
   • 1551, Thomas More, Utopia, London: B. Alsop & T. Fawcet, 1639, “Of Bond-men, Sicke persons, Wedlocke, and divers other matters,” page 231,^[10]

     They live together lovingly: For no Magistrate is either haughty or fearefull. Fathers they be called, and like fathers they use themselves.

   • c. 1558, George Cavendish, The Life and Death of Thomas Wolsey, cardinal, edited by Grace H. M. Simpson, London: R. & T. Washbourne, 1901, page 57,^[11]

     I pray to God that this may be a sufficient admonition unto thee to use thyself more wisely hereafter, for assure thyself that if thou dost not amend thy prodigality, thou wilt be the last Earl of our house.

Usage notes

• When meaning "accustom, habituate" or "habitually do (or employ)", the verb use is pronounced /ju?s/ (like the noun use); these senses and hence this pronunciation is now found chiefly in the past tense or as a past participle (/ju?st/), or in the (past) negative form did not use (as in I did not use to like her or the dragoons did not use [habituate, become habituated] to the Russian cold). In all other senses, it is pronounced /ju?z/ (past tense/participle /ju?zd/).
• See also the usage notes at used to (and use to) for more, especially on the use of this sense in interrogatives, negatives, and the past tense.

Synonyms

• (employ, apply, utilize): apply, employ, engage, utilise, utilize
• (exploit): exploit, take advantage of

Derived terms

Translations

References

• use in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• EUS, SEU, Sue, UEs, sue, ues

Alemannic German

Alternative forms

• ussa, usse, uuse

Etymology

Contraction of us + hii.

Pronunciation

• (Zurich) IPA^(key): /?uz?/

Adverb

use

1. out
   • 1903, Robert Walser, Der Teich:

     Aber i muess pressiere, daß i bald fertig wirde. Nächär chani use go spiele.

     But I need to hurry so I can finish soon. Then I can go out and play.

Asturian

Verb

use

1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive of usar

Chuukese

Etymology

From u- +? -se.

Pronoun

use

1. I do not

Adjective

use

1. I am not
2. I was not

Related terms

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /yz/

Verb

use

1. first/third-person singular present indicative of user
2. first/third-person singular present subjunctive of user
3. second-person singular imperative of user

Anagrams

• eus, sue, sué

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?u.ze/
• Rhymes: -uze

Adjective

use

1. feminine plural of uso

Anagrams

• sue

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?u?.se/, [?u?s??]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?u.se/, [?u?s??]

Participle

?se

1. vocative masculine singular of ?sus

Manx

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

use m (genitive singular use, plural useyn)

1. (finance) interest; usury

Derived terms

Portuguese

Verb

use

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of usar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of usar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of usar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of usar

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?use/, [?u.se]

Verb

use

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of usar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of usar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of usar.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of usar.