Tradeoffs

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A balancing of one advantage against another, where gaining one quality means giving up some of another ; a concession made in exchange for a benefit elsewhere
2. The act of weighing competing benefits and costs against each other ; a sacrifice of one thing to secure another
3. An exchange in which choosing one good option means accepting a lesser outcome in some other respect ; a give-and-take settlement between rival priorities

Etymology: "Tradeoffs" is the plural of "tradeoff," a noun formed from the phrasal verb "trade off." The noun is deverbal, meaning it was derived from the verb, so the verb came first: to trade off something is to give up one thing in exchange for another, and the noun names the resulting exchange itself. The plural simply counts those exchanges, as when an engineer weighs several tradeoffs between speed and cost.

Synonyms: compromise, concession, give-and-take