emolument

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The Word of the Day for March 30 is: 

emolument   \ih-MAHL-yuh-munt\   noun
     : the returns arising from office or employment usually in 
the form of compensation or perquisites 

Example sentence: 
     "Unlike some of his counterparts... in other cities, he is 
not paid by the team, and, indeed, has refused any emolument 
for his work." (Roger Angell, _The New Yorker_, November 28, 
1983)

Did you know?
     "To Sir Thomas Williams Person of the Parish... of Saint 
Andrew at Baynards Castle in London for his yearly pension 40 
shillings... in recompense of certain offerings, oblations, and 
emoluments unto the said benefice due...." Thus was recorded 
in "The Wardrobe Accounts of Edward the Fourth," along with 
every expense of the realm, the first ever known use 
of "emolument." By the year 1480, when that entry was made, 
Latin "emolumentum" had come to mean simply "profit" or "gain." 
It had thus become removed from its own Latin predecessor, the 
verb "molere," meaning "to grind." The original connection 
between the noun and this verb was its reference to the profit 
or gain from grinding another's grain. (The notion of grinding away at our jobs 
didn't show up in our language until the 
1800s.)