Word of the Day

: July 19, 2022

emolument

noun ih-MAHL-yuh-munt

What It Means

An emolument refers to money, gifts, or perquisites that someone receives due to their job or position.

// Jenna has contributed countless volunteer hours to the organization and continues to refuse any emolument for her work.

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emolument in Context

“The Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Enforcement Act, introduced in November, would: (1) codify the emoluments clause’s prohibition by barring federal officials from receiving foreign emoluments absent congressional approval; (2) increase transparency by requiring disclosure of such emoluments; (3) authorize the Office of Government Ethics to create rules to ensure compliance, and also empower the Office of the Special Counsel to investigate any violations.” — Editorial, The Boston Globe, 16 Apr. 2022

Did You Know?

The U.S. Constitution includes two emoluments clauses: the foreign emoluments clause, in Article 1, Section 9, prohibits federal officeholders from accepting gifts, payments, or other items of value from foreign states or rulers; the domestic emoluments clause, in Article 2, Section 1, prohibits the president from receiving any compensation from the federal government or from any state beyond what Section 1 outlines for compensation for service as the nation’s chief executive. Like most technical legal terms, emolument is Latin in origin, but chew on this: its Latin predecessor meant simply “advantage,” but that word’s source is emolere, meaning “to produce by grinding,” and its relations include such toothsome words as mill and molar.