Loss

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /lÉ’s/

Definitions

  1. The state of no longer possessing or having something ; the quantity or value that is gone or decreased ; an instance of being beaten or failing in a contest
  2. The condition in which something is taken away or gone ; the measure of how much is missing or reduced ; a situation where someone is overcome or unsuccessful in an effort
  3. The situation of something being deprived or taken from one ; the numerical or monetary difference showing what has disappeared ; an event marking the defeat or inability to succeed in a competition

Etymology: The noun "loss" is older than its verb, "lose," which is a surprising reversal: the noun came first in English, from Old English "los," meaning damage, destruction or ruin. That sense of something breaking apart is still visible in the word's deeper ancestry. Its Proto-Indo-European root, reconstructed as "lews-," meant "to cut, sunder, separate," so the idea of loss began as the idea of something being cut loose or pulled apart. Ancient cousins share this sense of ruin. Icelandic "los" still means dissolution or break-up, Old English "lor" and "forlor" meant loss or ruin, and Middle High German "verlor" carried the same meaning. The shift from physical breaking to the more familiar idea of having something taken away happened gradually, as the word came to describe the absence of a thing rather than its destruction.

Synonyms: defeat, decline, detriment, failure, misfortune

Antonyms: gain, success, advantage, profit, victory