Emolument

Emolument constitutional

A profit, salary, or benefit that comes from holding an office or position.

Technical: In the Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Clauses (Art. I, §9, cl. 8; Art. II, §1, cl. 7), a payment, profit, or advantage arising from office; founding-era usage was broad, denoting profit or gain generally.

Founding-era note: Eighteenth-century dictionaries defined 'emolument' broadly as profit or advantage — a breadth central to modern Emoluments Clause litigation.

Sources: Constitution Annotated — Foreign Emoluments Clause

A dictionary entry is reference: it describes how a term is used. It is not itself binding law. Why that matters →

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