income

/ˈɪnkəm/

/ˈɪnkəm/

Other forms: incomes

What could be simpler than to remember that income basically refers to money that "comes in," or is earned. Your income is the money you make in a given time period, for example weekly, monthly, or annually.

Your income might come from many sources — salary, investments, interest or annuities. Today income is used as a noun, but the Old English word incuman was first a verb that meant "to come in," and referred to the money earned through one's labor or business dealings. The first income tax was attempted in Britain in 1404, but was so unpopular it was ended. In the United States, the Federal Income Tax became law in 1913, and, unfortunately, is still in effect.

Definitions of income

1. noun

   the financial gain (earned or unearned) accruing over a given period of time
   antonyms:

   outgo

   money paid out; an amount spent

   types:

   disposable income

   income (after taxes) that is available to you for saving or spending

   double dipping

   two incomes received from the same source (as by holding a government job and receiving a government pension)

   easy money

   income obtained with a minimum of effort

   EBITDA, Earnings Before Interest Taxes Depreciation and Amortization

   income before interest and taxes and depreciation and amortization have been subtracted; an indicator of a company's profitability that is watched by investors (especially in leveraged buyouts)

   earnings, lucre, net, net income, net profit, profit, profits

   the excess of revenues over outlays in a given period of time (including depreciation and other non-cash expenses)

   cash flow

   the excess of cash revenues over cash outlays in a give period of time (not including non-cash expenses)

   personal income

   the income received by a single individual

   rental income

   income received from rental properties

   issue, payoff, proceeds, return, take, takings, yield

   the income or profit arising from such transactions as the sale of land or other property

   gross revenue, gross sales, sales

   income (at invoice values) received for goods and services over some given period of time

   net sales

   gross sales reduced by customer discounts, returns, freight out, and allowances

   unearned income, unearned revenue

   (accounting) income received but not yet earned (usually considered a current liability on a company's balance sheet)

   unearned income, unearned revenue

   personal income that you did not earn (e.g., dividends or interest or rent income)

   government income, government revenue

   income available to the government

   per capita income

   the total national income divided by the number of people in the nation

   earning per share

   the portion of a company's profit allocated to each outstanding share of common stock

   windfall profit

   profit that occurs unexpectedly as a consequence of some event not controlled by those who profit from it

   cleanup, killing

   a very large profit

   fast buck, quick buck

   quick or easy earnings, "they are traders out to make a fast buck"

   filthy lucre

   shameful profit

   gross profit, gross profit margin, margin

   (finance) the net sales minus the cost of goods and services sold

   revenue, tax income, tax revenue, taxation

   government income due to taxation

   poverty level, poverty line

   a level of personal income defining the state of poverty

   economic rent, rent

   the return derived from cultivated land in excess of that derived from the poorest land cultivated under similar conditions

   payback

   financial return or reward (especially returns equal to the initial investment)

   markup

   the amount added to the cost to determine the asking price

   accumulation

   (finance) profits that are not paid out as dividends but are added to the capital base of the corporation

   dividend

   that part of the earnings of a corporation that is distributed to its shareholders; usually paid quarterly

   type of:

   financial gain

   the amount of monetary gain