What does loss mean?
Loss is a common noun for something that has been lost, stolen, damaged, destroyed, or reduced in value. It is also used for financial shortfalls, unsuccessful outcomes, the death of someone, and decreases in qualities such as appetite, control, or confidence. In general contexts, the term carries an emotional association with grief, deprivation, or disappointment, while in business and sport it can be a technical description of a deficit or defeat. The expression “a loss of” is especially common when referring to a reduction in a physical, measurable, or emotional quality. Because loss is related etymologically to the basic verb lose, it conveys not merely a missing object but the process or result of separation, deterioration, or failure. Its many related senses make it useful whenever something valuable has been diminished or rendered unavailable.
nounThe fact or condition of being deprived of something, especially something valued, possessed, or expected. It can also refer to destruction, death, failure, damage, or a financial deficit.
- The fact of losing or being deprived of something possessed or valued.
- A decrease in amount, quality, value, or intensity.
- The destruction or ruin of a person, place, or thing.
- A financial deficit or an amount lost in a transaction.
- A failure to win, achieve, or retain a position.
"The team suffered a serious loss when its captain was injured."
"The company reported a substantial loss after sales fell sharply."
"Grief and a profound sense of loss followed the news of the accident."
The plural is losses, with the final -e retained and the final -s pronounced as /z/.
"The company recorded several significant losses during the year."
The word loss can mean a missing possession, a defeat, a financial shortfall, or even the end of life, giving ordinary disappointment an unusually wide range of meanings.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of loss
The word comes through Middle English los from Old English lās, meaning “loss” or “destruction,” a noun related to lēosan, “to lose.” Both forms continue an older Germanic word associated with losing or separation. The related modern English forms lose, loser, and losing developed from the same ancestral root, while loss became the standard noun for the result of that process.
Related word forms
How loss is actually used
The word is neutral to negative in most contexts. In finance, it commonly refers to a period in which expenses exceed income; in sports, it can mean a defeat or the failure to qualify. The phrase “a loss of” is widely used to describe a reduction in something measurable or perceptible.
Easily confused with loss
Loss is the noun naming what has been lost or lost in value, while lose is the verb describing the act of losing something.