To gain is to get or increase something, such as money, knowledge, weight, or advantage. It means ending up with more than you had before.
“Gain” comes from Old French “gaaignier,” meaning “to earn or win,” related to farming and working land. The sense grew from physical profit in farming to all kinds of increases and advantages.
We talk about “gaining” both things you can touch, like weight or money, and things you can’t, like experience or confidence. In electronics, “gain” even measures how much a signal is boosted, as if the sound itself were winning.
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