Where does “nonprofit” come from?
Nonprofit is English profit, meaning gain or benefit, combined with the prefix non-, which derives from Latin nōn meaning "not," ultimately tracing to Proto-Indo-European ne meaning "not."
nonprofit (English): Not seeking to produce a profit; An organization...
Definitions
- Not seeking to produce a profit; An organization...
Ancestry of “nonprofit”, step by step
nonprofit traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English profit
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | profit | Total income or cash flow minus expenditures. The... |
| 2 | Middle English | profit | — |
| 3 | Old French | profit | — |
| 4 | Latin | profectus | advance, progress, effect, increase, growth,... |
| 5 | Latin | proficiscor | I set out, depart, leave |
| 6 | Latin | proficio | I advance, make progress, make headway; I... |
| 7 | Latin | faciō | to do |
| 8 | Latin | -torium | nominative neuter singular of -tōrius; accusative... |
| 9 | Latin | -tōrius | ory |
| 10 | Latin | -tor | -er |
| 11 | Proto-Italic | -tōr | Forms agent nouns to verb stems |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | -tōr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | -tor-s | — |