Profitable
Profitable started out as a word to describe anything useful, but it hooked up with finance in the mid-1700s. Profits are measured in money earned beyond expenses, so profitable businesses or transactions make money. A busy restaurant, sold-out concert, and best-selling book are all profitable. People also use this word for situations that are good in ways that don’t involve money. If you learned a lot from something, then it was a profitable experience, even if you didn't make any cash [Vocabulary.com].
Profitability is closely related to profit – but with one key difference. While profit is an absolute amount, profitability is a relative one. It is the metric used to determine the scope of a company's profit in relation to the size of the business. Profitability is a measurement of efficiency – and ultimately its success or failure. A further definition of profitability is a business's ability to produce a return on an investment based on its resources in comparison with an alternative investment. Although a company can realize a profit, this does not necessarily mean that the company is profitable [Investopedia].
The term emerged in the English language in the thirteenth century with the meaning “yielding benefit, useful.” It came from the Old French words ‘Profitable, Profitable.’
It was not until 1758 that it also acquired the specific sense of “money-making” [Market Business New].
Profitable. Vocabulary.com. Retrieved from: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/profitable
Definition of Profitable. Investopedia. Retrieved from: https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/012715/what-difference-between-profitability-and-profit.asp
The etymology of profitable. Market Business New. Retrieved from: https://marketbusinessnews.com/financial-glossary/profitable/