Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An attitude of kindness or friendliness; benevolence.
- noun Cheerful acquiescence or willingness.
- noun A good relationship, as of a business with its customers or a nation with other nations.
- noun The positive reputation of a business and its likely continued patronage by clients, considered as part of its market value.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
favorably disposedattitude toward someone or something. - noun accounting The
value of abusiness entity not directly attributable to itstangible assets andliabilities . This value derives from factors such asconsumer loyalty to the brand. - noun business A concept used to refer to the ability of an individual or business to exert
influence within acommunity ,club ,market or another type of group, without having to resort to the use of an asset (such asmoney orproperty ), either directly or by the creation of alien .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a disposition to kindness and compassion
- noun (accounting) an intangible asset valued according to the advantage or reputation a business has acquired (over and above its tangible assets)
- noun the friendly hope that something will succeed
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Formerly, accountants used the term goodwill to refer to an intangible business asset, such as a well-regarded business name, brand, or symbol, acquired in a merger.
Essential Guide to Business Style and Usage PAUL R. MARTIN 2002
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Formerly, accountants used the term goodwill to refer to an intangible business asset, such as a well-regarded business name, brand, or symbol, acquired in a merger.
Essential Guide to Business Style and Usage PAUL R. MARTIN 2002
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(Turner's payment included another $1 million in "goodwill" money for the Department of Homeland Security.)
Boing Boing 2007
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When the USSR finally pulled out of Afghanistan in 1989, the US was presented with a great opportunity to help the Afghan people and to gain some long-term goodwill towards the US.
David Wallechinsky: Why Do They Hate Us? David Wallechinsky 2011
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So at this point, what you pay for is not goodwill from the party in power, but rather specific actions on specific legislation.
Matthew Yglesias » The Republican Party’s Requited Love for Large Banks 2010
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We are convinced that any signs of improvement or goodwill from the government and its leaders will be met with understanding and support from the Chinese people and will be effective in moving Chinese society in a peaceful direction.
Letter: On Liu Xiaobo and the Nobel Peace Prize washingtonpost.com 2010
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Although Avatar had my goodwill from the first episode, when it introduced Toph in the second book, my goodwill became distilled and pure.
Archive 2010-05-01 2010
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The setup has cost her in goodwill, an important political currency.
Taylor Marsh: Sarah Palin's Team Sends Smoke Signal on 2012 Taylor Marsh 2010
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Although Avatar had my goodwill from the first episode, when it introduced Toph in the second book, my goodwill became distilled and pure.
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Governments have an uncanny knack of turning willing volunteers into ‘pressed men’ and ruin goodwill in the process. on February 3, 2010 at 7: 58 pm Bob
The Truth Behind The £100 Phonecalls « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG Inspector Gadget 2010
edwardvielmetti commented on the word goodwill
reservoir of goodwill and affection
December 11, 2006