'profit-making' originates from the combination of 'profit' and 'making', where 'profit' meant 'financial gain' and 'making' meant 'the process of creating or producing'.

'profit' changed from the Old French word 'profit', and 'making' from the Old English 'macian', eventually forming the modern English term 'profit-making'.

Initially, it meant 'creating financial gain', and this meaning has largely remained the same in modern usage.