ment; the _profit_ is the excess (if any) of the _receipts_
over the outlay; hence, in government, morals, etc., the _profit_ is
what is really good, helpful, useful, valuable. _Utility_ is chiefly
used in the sense of some immediate or personal and generally some
material _good_. _Advantage_ is that which gives one a vantage-ground,
either for coping with competitors or with difficulties, needs, or
demands; as to have the _advantage_ of a good education; it is
frequently used of what one has beyond another or secures at the
expense of another; as, to have the _advantage_ of another in an
argument, or to take _advantage_ of another in a bargain. _Gain_ is what
one secures beyond what he previously possessed. _Benefit_ is anything
that does one good. _Emolument_ is _profit_, _return_, or _value_
accruing through official position. _Expediency_ has respect to _profit_
or _advantage_, real or supposed, considered apart from or perhaps in
opposition to right, in actions having a moral character. Compare
UTILITY.

Antonyms:

damage, detriment, harm, injury, ruin,
destruction, disadvantage, hurt, loss, waste.

Prepositions:

The profit _of_ labor; _on_ capital; _in_ business.

* * * * *

PROGRESS.

Synonyms:

advance, development, improvement, proficiency,
advancement, growth, increase, progression.
attainment,

_Progress_ (L. _pro_, forward, _gradior_, go) is a moving onward or
forward, whether in space or in the mental or moral realm, and may be
either mechanical, individual, or social. _Attainment_, _development_,
and _proficiency_ are more absolute than the other words of the group,
denoting some point of advantage or of comparative perfection reached by
forward or onward movement; we speak of _attainments_ in virtue or
scholarship, _proficiency_ in music or languages, the _development_ of
new powers or organs; _proficiency_ includes the idea of skill.
_Advance_ may denote either a forward movement or the point gained by
forward movement, but always relatively with reference to the point from
which the movement started; as, this is a great _advance_. _Advance_
admits the possibility of retreat; _progress_ (L. _progredi_, to walk
forward) is steady and constant forward movement, admitting of pause,
but not of retreat; _advance_ suggests more clearly a point to be
reached, while _progress_ lays the emphasis upon the forward movement;