Dictionary

emolument en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ɪˈmɒljʊmənt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /əˈmɑljəmənt/ (General-American)
• /ɛ-/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /-jə-/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Middle English emolument, from Old French emolument, from Latin ēmolumentum.

Meanings

1. (formal) 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. 1787, Philadelphia Convention, United States Constitution:
   • The skipper Mr. Cooke had hired at Far Harbor [...] had only been prevailed upon to take charge of the yacht after the offer of an emolument equal to half a year's sea pay of an ensign in the navy. 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter X, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
   • Even when a mere child I began my travels, and made many tours of discovery into foreign parts and unknown regions of my native city, to the frequent alarm of my parents, and the emolument of the town-crier. 1819 June 23, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “The Author’s Account of Himself”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., number I, New York, N.Y.: […] C[ornelius] S. Van Winkle, […], →OCLC, page 5:
   • Plus, the Department of Justice has argued in the past that SGEs are subject to the emoluments clause, which means they cannot take payments from foreign governments. 2025 April 23, Zachary B. Wolf, “Elon Musk’s government role gets even murkier”, in CNN:
2. (archaic, formal) Payment for employment or an office; compensation for a job, which is usually monetary. ▸ Multure paid to a miller.
3. Material benefit, either direct or indirect.
   • Near-synonym: inurement

Forms

Deriveds

emolumentary · emolumental

Relateds

in kind

Synonyms

compensation · fee · fee · remuneration · compensation · remuneration · inurement · payment · payment

Translations (29)

cmn 報酬 /报酬 (payment for an office or employment) · id emolumen (payment for an office or employment) · de Diät (payment for an office or employment) · ro onorariu (payment for an office or employment) · sv arvode (payment for an office or employment) · ota اجرت (payment for an office or employment) · bg възнаграждение (payment for an office or employment) · ru гонора́р (payment for an office or employment) · nl bijverdienste (payment for an office or employment) · ro răsplată (payment for an office or employment) · ru опла́та (payment for an office or employment) · es emolumento (payment for an office or employment) · ro salariu (payment for an office or employment) · ro leafă (payment for an office or employment) · pt emolumento (payment for an office or employment) · bg заплата (payment for an office or employment) · it emolumento (payment for an office or employment) · ro plată (payment for an office or employment) · ca emolument (payment for an office or employment) · ru пла́та (payment for an office or employment) · fr émolument (payment for an office or employment) · cmn 酬金 (payment for an office or employment) · fi korvaus (payment for an office or employment) · de Honorar (payment for an office or employment) · ms emolumen (payment for an office or employment) · es pie de altar (payment for an office or employment) · ru вознагражде́ние (payment for an office or employment) · pl uposażenie (payment for an office or employment) · de Vergütung (payment for an office or employment)