emolument means payment for employment or an office; compensation for a job, which is usually monetary. It carries an Arena rating of 1696, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, emolument ranks #1,187 of 13,220 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #2,504 of 13,220 for Most Satisfying to Say, #2,507 of 13,220 for Most Ingenious Words, #2,902 of 13,220 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound.
emolument is pronounced /ɪˈmɒljʊmənt/.
Why “emolument” is a great word
A payment, compensation, or profit arising from one's office or employment. From Middle English emolument, from Old French emolument, from Latin ēmolumentum ("profit, gain, advantage"). Unlike a salary—that fixed, predictable stipend—or a bribe—its illicit and shadowed cousin—an emolument is the encompassing, neutral term for all lawful gain attached to a station. It is the quiet clink of coins in a rent-collector’s palm, the discreet transfer of stock options, the weightless addition of a pension accruing year by year—the formal acknowledgment that service is rarely its own reward, and its yield, however dry, is the tangible measure of a position's worth.
Etymology
From Middle English emolument, from Old French emolument, from Latin ēmolumentum.
noun
- Payment for employment or an office; compensation for a job, which is usually monetary.“No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”
- Payment for employment or an office; compensation for a job, which is usually monetary.; Multure paid to a miller.
- Material benefit, either direct or indirect.“Near-synonym: inurement”
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- sinecure 84% match — A position that requires little to no work, or easy work, but still gives an ample payment; a cushy job. vs emolument →
- recompense 84% match — An equivalent returned for anything given, done, or suffered; compensation; reward; amends; requital. vs emolument →
- honorarium 83% match — Compensation for services that do not have a predetermined value. vs emolument →
- gratuity 83% match — An additional payment given freely as thanks for service. vs emolument →
- prebendalism 83% match — A system of political patronage employment. vs emolument →
- benefice 83% match — Land granted to a priest in a church that has a source of income attached to it. vs emolument →
- embezzle 82% match — To steal or misappropriate money that one has been trusted with, especially to steal money from the organisation for which one works. vs emolument →
- guerdon 82% match — A reward, prize or recompense for a service; an accolade. vs emolument →