Profitable definitions

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PROF'ITABLE, a. Yielding or bringing profit or gain; gainful; lucrative; as a profitable trade; profitable business; a profitable study or profession.
1. Useful; advantageous.
What was so profitable to the empire, became fatal to the emperor.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: yielding material gain or profit; "profitable speculation on the stock market" [ant: unprofitable]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Date: 14th century affording profits ; yielding advantageous returns or results • profitability noun • profitableness noun • profitably adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 yielding profit; lucrative. 2 beneficial; useful. Derivatives: profitability n. profitableness n. profitably adv. Etymology: ME f. OF (as PROFIT)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Profitable Prof"it*a*ble, a. [F. profitable.] Yielding or bringing profit or gain; gainful; lucrative; useful; helpful; advantageous; beneficial; as, a profitable trade; profitable business; a profitable study or profession. What was so profitable to the empire became fatal to the emperor. --Arbuthnot. -- Prof"it*a*ble*ness, n. -- Prof"it*a*bly, adv.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. A profitable organization or practice makes a profit. Drug manufacturing is the most profitable business in America... It was profitable for them to produce large amounts of food. ADJ: oft it v-link ADJ to-inf • profitably The 28 French stores are trading profitably. ADV: ADV with v • profitability Changes were made in operating methods in an effort to increase profitability. 2. Something that is profitable results in some benefit for you. ...collaboration which leads to a profitable exchange of personnel and ideas. ADJ: usu ADJ n • profitably In fact he could scarcely have spent his time more profitably. ADV: ADV with v

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Gainful, advantageous, productive, beneficial, useful, desirable. 2. Lucrative, remunerative.

Moby Thesaurus

advantageous, advisable, aidful, appropriate, auspicious, banausic, becoming, befitting, beneficial, benevolent, bon, bonny, braw, breadwinning, bueno, capital, cogent, commendable, compensating, compensative, compensatory, conducive, congruous, constructive, contributory, convenient, decent, desirable, effective, elegant, estimable, excellent, expedient, fair, famous, fat, favorable, feasible, felicitous, fine, fit, fitten, fitting, fructuous, fruitful, furthersome, gainful, good, good for, goodly, grand, happy, healthy, helpful, kind, laudable, likely, lucrative, meet, moneymaking, nice, noble, of value, opportune, paying, pleasant, politic, positive, productive, proper, recommendable, regal, remedial, remunerative, reparative, repaying, retributive, retributory, rewardful, rewarding, right, royal, salutary, satisfying, seasonable, seemly, serviceable, skillful, sortable, sound, splendid, suitable, therapeutic, timely, to be desired, useful, utilitarian, valid, valuable, very good, virtuous, well-paying, well-spent, well-timed, wise, worthwhile, yielding a return