product

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See also: produc't

English

Etymology

From Middle English product, from Latin prōductus, perfect participle of prōdūcō, first attested in English in the mathematics sense.

Pronunciation

Noun

product (countable and uncountable, plural products)

  1. Anything that is produced; a result.
    The product of last month's quality standards committee is quite good, even though the process was flawed.
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book XI”, in Paradise Lost. , London: [Samuel Simmons], , →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: , London: Basil Montagu Pickering , 1873, →OCLC, lines 683-84:
      To whom thus Michael: These are the product / Of those ill-mated marriages thou sawest;
    • 1790, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France:
      These institutions are the products of enthusiasm; they are the instruments of wisdom.
    • 2014 June 21, “Magician’s brain”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8892:
      The truth is that [Isaac] Newton was very much a product of his time. The colossus of science was not the first king of reason, Keynes wrote after reading Newton’s unpublished manuscripts. Instead “he was the last of the magicians”.
    1. The amount of an artifact that has been created by someone or some process.
      They improve their product every year; they export most of their agricultural production.
      Synonyms: endwork, production, output, creation, yield
    2. A consequence of someone's efforts or of a particular set of circumstances.
      Skill is the product of hours of practice.  His reaction was the product of hunger and fatigue.
    3. (chemistry) A chemical substance formed as a result of a chemical reaction.
      This is a product of lime and nitric acid.
    4. (arithmetic) A quantity obtained by multiplication of two or more numbers.
      The product of 2 and 3 is 6.  The product of 2, 3, and 4 is 24.
    5. (mathematics) Any operation or a result thereof which generalises multiplication of numbers, like the multiplicative operation in a ring, product of types or a categorical product.
    6. Any tangible or intangible good or service that is a result of a process and that is intended for delivery to a customer or end user.
      • 2002, Oonagh McDonald with Kevin Keasey, The future of retail banking in Europe, page 146:
        Product innovation is needed to meet changes in society and its requirements for particular types of banking product.
      • 2002, Veljko Milutinović with Frédéric Patricelli, E-business and e-challenges, page 133:
        This sort of relationship can improve quality of transportation and can help in negotiations between transportation providers and transportation product users.
      • 2006, Teresa Luckey with Joseph Phillips, Software project management for dummies, page 55:
        You can't create a stellar software product unless you know what it is supposed to do. You must work with the stakeholders to create the product scope.
  2. (countable, uncountable) A commodity offered for sale.
    That store offers a variety of products.  We've got to sell a lot of product by the end of the month.
    Synonyms: merchandise, wares, goods
  3. (cosmetics, uncountable) Any preparation to be applied to the hair, skin, nails, etc. Often specifically a preparation used to hold one's hair in a desired arrangement.
    • 2020, Brandon Taylor, Real Life, Daunt Books Originals, page 153:
      He puts his fingers in Miller’s hair, which is greasy with product.
    Wash excess product out of your hair.
  4. (US, slang) Illegal drugs, especially cocaine, when viewed as a commodity.
    I got some product here – you buying?

Usage notes

  • Adjectives often applied to "product": excellent, good, great, inferior, crappy, broken, defective, cheap, expensive, reliable, safe, dangerous, useful, valuable, useless, domestic, national, agricultural, industrial, financial.

Hyponyms

economics
mathematics

Derived terms

economics
other terms

Related terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

See also

Other terms used in arithmetic operations:

Advanced hyperoperations: tetration, pentation, hexation

Verb

product (third-person singular simple present products, present participle producting, simple past and past participle producted)

  1. (transitive, obsolete) To produce.
    • 1651, The Touchstone of Common Assurances, page 498:
      The probate of a Testament is the producting and insinuating of it before the Ecclesiastical Judge []

Dutch

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin prōductum.

Pronunciation

Noun

product n (plural producten, diminutive productje n)

  1. product

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

  • Afrikaans: produk
  • Indonesian: produk