"bottom line" meaning in English

See bottom line in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: en-au-bottom line.ogg Forms: bottom lines [plural]
Etymology: A reference to the literal bottom line of an income statement or other accounting record. Head templates: {{en-noun|~}} bottom line (countable and uncountable, plural bottom lines)
  1. (countable, uncountable, business) The final balance; the amount of money or profit left after everything has been tallied. Tags: countable, uncountable Categories (topical): Business Translations (final balance): 帐本底线 (Chinese Mandarin), viimeinen rivi (Finnish), résultat net [masculine] (French), Endergebnis [neuter] (German), Ergebnis unterm Strich [neuter] (German), végösszeg (Hungarian), saldo (Portuguese), saldo final [masculine] (Spanish), crematística [feminine] (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-bottom_line-en-noun-V6z9QKvD Topics: business Disambiguation of 'final balance': 100 0 0
  2. (idiomatic) The summary or result; the most important information. Tags: countable, idiomatic, uncountable Synonyms: upshot, net-net Translations (summary or result): حاصل الأمر [masculine] (Arabic), 总结 (zǒngjié) (Chinese Mandarin), kortom (Dutch), lopputulos (Finnish), résumé (French), Fazit [neuter] (German), Ergebnis unterm Strich [neuter] (German), összegzés (Hungarian), lényeg (Hungarian), végeredmény (Hungarian), conclusión [feminine] (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-bottom_line-en-noun-3fLLmIhp Disambiguation of 'summary or result': 2 83 16
  3. A minimum acceptable result from a negotiation. Tags: countable, uncountable Synonyms: BATNA, reservation price
    Sense id: en-bottom_line-en-noun-oCWuvfTU Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Arabic translations, Terms with Dutch translations, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Hungarian translations, Terms with Mandarin translations, Terms with Portuguese translations, Terms with Spanish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 36 14 50 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 33 15 52 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 36 13 51 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 35 7 58 Disambiguation of Terms with Arabic translations: 29 15 56 Disambiguation of Terms with Dutch translations: 29 17 54 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 29 15 55 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 27 19 54 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 29 15 55 Disambiguation of Terms with Hungarian translations: 27 13 59 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 25 19 56 Disambiguation of Terms with Portuguese translations: 34 14 52 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 27 11 62
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: bottom-line (english: verbal form), bottom liner Related terms: at bottom, bottom dollar, rock bottom

Inflected forms

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "english": "verbal form",
      "word": "bottom-line"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "bottom liner"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "A reference to the literal bottom line of an income statement or other accounting record.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "bottom lines",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "bottom line (countable and uncountable, plural bottom lines)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "at bottom"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "bottom dollar"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "rock bottom"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Business",
          "orig": "en:Business",
          "parents": [
            "Economics",
            "Society",
            "Social sciences",
            "All topics",
            "Sciences",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "For quotations using this term, see Citations:bottom line."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The final balance; the amount of money or profit left after everything has been tallied."
      ],
      "id": "en-bottom_line-en-noun-V6z9QKvD",
      "links": [
        [
          "business",
          "business"
        ],
        [
          "balance",
          "balance"
        ],
        [
          "money",
          "money"
        ],
        [
          "profit",
          "profit"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable, uncountable, business) The final balance; the amount of money or profit left after everything has been tallied."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "business"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0 0",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "final balance",
          "word": "帐本底线"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0 0",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "final balance",
          "word": "viimeinen rivi"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0 0",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "final balance",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "résultat net"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0 0",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "final balance",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "Endergebnis"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0 0",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "final balance",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "Ergebnis unterm Strich"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0 0",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "final balance",
          "word": "végösszeg"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0 0",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "final balance",
          "word": "saldo"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0 0",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "final balance",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "saldo final"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0 0",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "final balance",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "crematística"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The bottom line is that there simply are not enough hours in the day to finish all there is to do.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1980, Teena Marie (lyrics and music), “I Need Your Lovin’”, in Irons in the Fire:",
          "text": "I need your lovin' and that's the bottom line / I need your lovin' or just a little time",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1988, Richard Nixon, “The Superpowers”, in 1999: Victory Without War, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 38:",
          "text": "When Gorbachev totals up the balance sheet of Soviet strengths and weaknesses, the bottom line is not encouraging. Moscow has put itself into a unique historical position: It does not have a single ally among the major powers of the world.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2019 September 10, Phil McNulty, “'England horribly fallible in defence' against Kosovo in Euro 2020 qualifying”, in BBC Sport:",
          "text": "The bottom line is this - England have little or no chance of beating quality international sides if they defend as shoddily and carelessly as this, if they give possession away as cheaply as this and are as easy to get at as Kosovo made it look.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 July 26, Stefanie Foster, “Rebuild trust or it's game over”, in RAIL, number 988, page 3:",
          "text": "But the bottom line is that passengers want to see staff at a station and be able to find them easily.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The summary or result; the most important information."
      ],
      "id": "en-bottom_line-en-noun-3fLLmIhp",
      "links": [
        [
          "summary",
          "summary"
        ],
        [
          "result",
          "result"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) The summary or result; the most important information."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "upshot"
        },
        {
          "word": "net-net"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "idiomatic",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "2 83 16",
          "code": "ar",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "sense": "summary or result",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "حاصل الأمر"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 83 16",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "zǒngjié",
          "sense": "summary or result",
          "word": "总结"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 83 16",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "summary or result",
          "word": "kortom"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 83 16",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "summary or result",
          "word": "lopputulos"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 83 16",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "summary or result",
          "word": "résumé"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 83 16",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "summary or result",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "Fazit"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 83 16",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "summary or result",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "Ergebnis unterm Strich"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 83 16",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "summary or result",
          "word": "összegzés"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 83 16",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "summary or result",
          "word": "lényeg"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 83 16",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "summary or result",
          "word": "végeredmény"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 83 16",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "summary or result",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "conclusión"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "36 14 50",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "33 15 52",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "36 13 51",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "35 7 58",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "29 15 56",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Arabic translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "29 17 54",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Dutch translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "29 15 55",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "27 19 54",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "29 15 55",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "27 13 59",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Hungarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "25 19 56",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Mandarin translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "34 14 52",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Portuguese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "27 11 62",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "My bottom line for this job is $125,000; any less and I'll walk away."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A minimum acceptable result from a negotiation."
      ],
      "id": "en-bottom_line-en-noun-oCWuvfTU",
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "BATNA"
        },
        {
          "word": "reservation price"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-bottom line.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/27/En-au-bottom_line.ogg/En-au-bottom_line.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/En-au-bottom_line.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "bottom line"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Arabic translations",
    "Terms with Dutch translations",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Hungarian translations",
    "Terms with Mandarin translations",
    "Terms with Portuguese translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "english": "verbal form",
      "word": "bottom-line"
    },
    {
      "word": "bottom liner"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "A reference to the literal bottom line of an income statement or other accounting record.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "bottom lines",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "bottom line (countable and uncountable, plural bottom lines)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "at bottom"
    },
    {
      "word": "bottom dollar"
    },
    {
      "word": "rock bottom"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English uncountable nouns",
        "en:Business"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "For quotations using this term, see Citations:bottom line."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The final balance; the amount of money or profit left after everything has been tallied."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "business",
          "business"
        ],
        [
          "balance",
          "balance"
        ],
        [
          "money",
          "money"
        ],
        [
          "profit",
          "profit"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable, uncountable, business) The final balance; the amount of money or profit left after everything has been tallied."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "business"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The bottom line is that there simply are not enough hours in the day to finish all there is to do.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1980, Teena Marie (lyrics and music), “I Need Your Lovin’”, in Irons in the Fire:",
          "text": "I need your lovin' and that's the bottom line / I need your lovin' or just a little time",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1988, Richard Nixon, “The Superpowers”, in 1999: Victory Without War, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 38:",
          "text": "When Gorbachev totals up the balance sheet of Soviet strengths and weaknesses, the bottom line is not encouraging. Moscow has put itself into a unique historical position: It does not have a single ally among the major powers of the world.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2019 September 10, Phil McNulty, “'England horribly fallible in defence' against Kosovo in Euro 2020 qualifying”, in BBC Sport:",
          "text": "The bottom line is this - England have little or no chance of beating quality international sides if they defend as shoddily and carelessly as this, if they give possession away as cheaply as this and are as easy to get at as Kosovo made it look.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 July 26, Stefanie Foster, “Rebuild trust or it's game over”, in RAIL, number 988, page 3:",
          "text": "But the bottom line is that passengers want to see staff at a station and be able to find them easily.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The summary or result; the most important information."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "summary",
          "summary"
        ],
        [
          "result",
          "result"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) The summary or result; the most important information."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "upshot"
        },
        {
          "word": "net-net"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "idiomatic",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "My bottom line for this job is $125,000; any less and I'll walk away."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A minimum acceptable result from a negotiation."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "BATNA"
        },
        {
          "word": "reservation price"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-bottom line.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/27/En-au-bottom_line.ogg/En-au-bottom_line.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/En-au-bottom_line.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "final balance",
      "word": "帐本底线"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "final balance",
      "word": "viimeinen rivi"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "final balance",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "résultat net"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "final balance",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "Endergebnis"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "final balance",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "Ergebnis unterm Strich"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "final balance",
      "word": "végösszeg"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "final balance",
      "word": "saldo"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "final balance",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "saldo final"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "final balance",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "crematística"
    },
    {
      "code": "ar",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "sense": "summary or result",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "حاصل الأمر"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "zǒngjié",
      "sense": "summary or result",
      "word": "总结"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "summary or result",
      "word": "kortom"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "summary or result",
      "word": "lopputulos"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "summary or result",
      "word": "résumé"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "summary or result",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "Fazit"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "summary or result",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "Ergebnis unterm Strich"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "summary or result",
      "word": "összegzés"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "summary or result",
      "word": "lényeg"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "summary or result",
      "word": "végeredmény"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "summary or result",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "conclusión"
    }
  ],
  "word": "bottom line"
}

Download raw JSONL data for bottom line meaning in English (6.0kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.