emolument
nounUK /ɪˈmɒljʊmənt/ · US /əˈmɑljəmənt/
Etymology From Middle English emolument, from Old French emolument, from Latin ēmolumentum.
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:
- 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:
2 more examples
- 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:
- 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:
3
Material benefit, either direct or indirect.
- Near-synonym: inurement
- Derived terms
- emolumental, emolumentary
- Related terms
- in kind