Meanings
alternative non-profit
- not comparableNot seeking to produce a profit (a financial gain).
The site's infrastructure (but not its content) is now run by the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation (WMF), which will be described in depth in Chapter 17.
2008, Phoebe Ayers, Charles Matthews, Ben Yates, How Wikipedia Works: And How You Can Be a Part of It, No Starch Press, →ISBN, page 472 more examples
Here in New York, plush rehabilitation centers literally canvass for big-paying clients whose insurance will cover the average $11,000 to $14,000 cost for a month's treatment. Meanwhile, there are only 12,000 non-profit treatment beds in the state for a conservatively estimated 350,000 addicts.
1990 February 4, Leonard Tirado, “Privatized 'Recovery' Versus Collective Action”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 29, page 5Gathering the application and my records , and summoning up as much courage as I could , I set out to complete the IRS application for a private, nonprofit agency.
1999, Katherine Martin, Women of Courage, Inspiring Stories from the Women Who Lived Them, page 118Synonyms: not-for-profit, non-profit-making · Antonyms: for-profit
plural nonprofits · alternative non-profit
- abbreviationellipsisEllipsis of nonprofit organization (“an organization that exists for reasons other than to make a profit, such as a charitable, educational or service organization”).
They make up one of three community outreach teams employed by OnPoint, a New York City nonprofit that provides services for people who use drugs.
2023 February 22, Jeneen Interlandi, Donavon Smallwood, “One Year Inside a Radical New Approach to America’s Overdose Crisis”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 22 Feb 20233 more examples
Historically, companies have viewed nonprofits primarily as recipients of their philanthropy – usually in the form of cash and product donations, as well as employee volunteers, in exchange for a boost to their reputations or stronger relationships with local stakeholders.
2014 February 27, Adeeb Mahmud, “Beyond charity: three innovative types of business partnerships for nonprofits”, in The Guardian, →ISSNThe people who made millions or billions from these companies are now changing yet another sector of the American economy: philanthropy. They’re forcing nonprofits to become incubators and disruptors, rather than just service providers, and to think about how they sell themselves, how they measure what they do, and what programs will attract money.
2018 July 25, Alana Semuels, “How Silicon Valley Has Disrupted Philanthropy”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 15 Dec 2020The shelter, an independent nonprofit, was originally a pilot project of Trinity Lutheran Church of Manhattan, and still occupies its basement on the Upper West Side.
2023 March 18, Jane Margolies, “How the Head of a Shelter for Young L.G.B.T.Q. Adults Spends Sundays”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 18 Mar 2023Synonyms: not-for-profit, NPO
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveNot seeking to produce a profit (a financial gain).
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivenot commercially motivated
nounan organization chartered for other than profit-making activities
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*né
- Proto-Germanic*ne
- Proto-Indo-European*ís?
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁óynos
- Proto-Germanic*ainaz
- Proto-Germanic*nainaz
- Proto-West Germanic*nain
- Old Englishnān
- Middle Englishnon
- Old Englishnān
- Old Englishnān-
- Middle Englishnon-
- Englishnon-
- Englishprofit
- Englishnonprofit
Translations
Arabic غَيْرُ رِبْحِيّ, غَيْرُ هَادِفٍ لِلرِّبْحِ
- غَيْرُ رِبْحِيّ (ḡayru ribḥīyy)not seeking to produce a profit
- غَيْرُ هَادِفٍ لِلرِّبْحِ (ḡayru hādifin li-r-ribḥi)not seeking to produce a profit
Catalan organització sense ànim de lucre
- organització sense ànim de lucrenon-profit organization — see also NPO
Chinese Cantonese 非營利 /非营利
- 非營利 /非营利 (fei¹ jing⁴ lei⁶)not seeking to produce a profit
Chinese Mandarin 非營利 /非营利, 非營利組織 /非营利组织
- 非營利 /非营利 (fēiyínglì)not seeking to produce a profit
- 非營利組織 /非营利组织 (fēiyínglì zǔzhī)non-profit organization — see also NPO
- 非營利機構 /非营利机构 (fēiyínglì jīgòu)non-profit organization — see also NPO
Czech neziskový, neziskovka
- neziskovýnot seeking to produce a profit
- neziskovkanon-profit organization — see also NPO
Danish ideel, ikke-profitdrivende
- ideelnot seeking to produce a profit
- ikke-profitdrivendenot seeking to produce a profit
- ideel organisationnon-profit organization — see also NPO
Dutch zonder winstoogmerk, non-profitorganisatie
- zonder winstoogmerknot seeking to produce a profit
- non-profitorganisatienon-profit organization — see also NPO
- non-profitinstellingnon-profit organization — see also NPO
- vereniging zonder winstoogmerknon-profit organization — see also NPO
Esperanto neprofitcela, neprofitcela organizo
- neprofitcelanot seeking to produce a profit
- neprofitcela organizonon-profit organization — see also NPO
Finnish voittoa tavoittelematon, voittoa tavoittelematon yhdistys
- voittoa tavoittelematonnot seeking to produce a profit
- voittoa tavoittelematon yhdistysnon-profit organization — see also NPO
- yleishyödyllinen yhteisönon-profit organization — see also NPO
French sans but lucratif, à but non lucratif
- sans but lucratifnot seeking to produce a profit
- à but non lucratifnot seeking to produce a profit
- association sans but lucratifnon-profit organization — see also NPO
German ohne Gewinnerzielungsabsicht, nonprofit
- ohne Gewinnerzielungsabsichtnot seeking to produce a profit
- nonprofitnot seeking to produce a profit
- Non-Profit-Organisationnon-profit organization — see also NPO
Hungarian nonprofit
- nonprofitnot seeking to produce a profit
Indonesian nirlaba
- nirlabanot seeking to produce a profit
Irish neamhbhrabúis, eagraíocht neamhbhrabúis
- neamhbhrabúisnot seeking to produce a profit
- eagraíocht neamhbhrabúisnon-profit organization — see also NPO
Italian non a scopo di lucro, organizzazione non a scopo di lucro
- non a scopo di lucronot seeking to produce a profit
- organizzazione non a scopo di lucronon-profit organization — see also NPO
Japanese 非営利
- 非営利 (hieiri)not seeking to produce a profit
Korean 비영리, 비영리 단체
- 비영리 (biyeongni)not seeking to produce a profit
- 비영리 단체 (biyeongni danche)non-profit organization — see also NPO
Persian غیرانتفاعی
- غیرانتفاعی (ġeyre-entefâ'i)not seeking to produce a profit
Polish niedochodowy, non-profit
- niedochodowynot seeking to produce a profit
- non-profitnot seeking to produce a profit
- organizacja non-profitnon-profit organization — see also NPO
Portuguese sem fins lucrativos, organização sem fins lucrativos
- sem fins lucrativosnot seeking to produce a profit
- organização sem fins lucrativosnon-profit organization — see also NPO
Russian некомме́рческий, некомме́рческая организа́ция
- некомме́рческий (nekommérčeskij)not seeking to produce a profit
- некомме́рческая организа́ция (nekommérčeskaja organizácija)non-profit organization — see also NPO
Slovak neziskový, nezisková organizácia
- neziskovýnot seeking to produce a profit
- nezisková organizácianon-profit organization — see also NPO
- neziskovkanon-profit organization — see also NPO
Spanish sin ánimo de lucro, sin fin lucrativo
- sin ánimo de lucronot seeking to produce a profit
- sin fin lucrativonot seeking to produce a profit
- organización sin ánimo de lucronon-profit organization — see also NPO
- organización sin fin lucrativonon-profit organization — see also NPO
Swedish ideell, icke-vinstdrivande
- ideellnot seeking to produce a profit
- icke-vinstdrivandenot seeking to produce a profit
- ideell organisationnon-profit organization — see also NPO
Ukrainian неприбутко́вий
- неприбутко́вий (neprybutkóvyj)not seeking to produce a profit
Vietnamese phi lợi nhuận, bất vụ lợi
- phi lợi nhuậnnot seeking to produce a profit
- bất vụ lợinot seeking to produce a profit
- tổ chức phi lợi nhuậnnon-profit organization — see also NPO
- tổ chức bất vụ lợinon-profit organization — see also NPO
Cite this entry
nonprofit. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nonprofit
“nonprofit.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nonprofit. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nonprofit,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nonprofit.
Source: nonprofit on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.