Earnings are the money someone receives for their work or that a business makes from selling goods or services. When your neighbor pays you ten dollars for mowing her lawn, those ten dollars are your earnings. When a bakery sells bread and cookies all month and counts up the money it made, those are the bakery's earnings.

For workers, earnings usually mean wages or salary: the payment you get for doing a job. A teacher's earnings might be $50,000 per year, while a student's summer earnings from a lemonade stand might be $200. For businesses, earnings typically mean the money left over after paying all the expenses like ingredients, rent, and workers' salaries.

You'll often see earnings discussed in the news when companies announce their quarterly or annual results. Strong earnings usually mean a business is doing well and selling products people want. People also talk about earning potential, which means how much money someone could make in a particular job or career. A doctor generally has higher earning potential than a cashier because the job requires more training and education.

Notice that earnings are different from gifts or allowances: you earn them by doing something, whether that's babysitting, running a company, or teaching a class.