different between profitable vs paying

English

Etymology

Old French profitable.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?p??f?t?bl?/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?p??f?t?bl?/
• Hyphenation: prof?it?a?ble

Adjective

profitable (comparative more profitable, superlative most profitable)

1. Producing a profit.
2. Beneficial, serviceable, of use.
   • c. 1521, John Skelton, “Speke Parott”:

     I wylbe ferme and ?tabyll
     And to yow ?eruyceabyll
     And also prophytabyll
     Yf ye be agreabyll
     My propyr Be??e
     To turne a gayne to me

   • 1953, ?Richmond Lattimore, Aeschylus, "Prometheus Bound", in Greek Tragedies

     It is a profitable thing, if one is wise, to seem foolish.

Synonyms

• lucrative
• beneficial

Antonyms

• unprofitable

Derived terms

Translations

French

Etymology

From profiter +? -able

Adjective

profitable (plural profitables)

1. profitable

Further reading

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

Old French

Etymology

profiter +? -able.

Adjective

profitable m (oblique and nominative feminine singular profitable)

1. useful; usable; that one can make use of

Descendants

• ? English: profitable
• French: profitable

References

• profitable on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub

English

Etymology

pay +? -ing

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?pe?.??/
• Rhymes: -e???
• Hyphenation: pay?ing

Verb

paying

1. present participle of pay

Derived terms

• fare-paying

Noun

paying (plural payings)

1. payment
   • 1912, Philip H. Wicksteed, The Commonsense of Political Economy

     It brings his payings into close and convenient correspondence with his usings of commodities, and different branches of his expenditure thus become easily comparable.

Anagrams

• pygian