the.com/earning
Money you can look in the eye, because you traded something real for it.
means Income received as payment for work, services, or the productive use of capital.
from From Old English earnian, to deserve or labor for, rooted in a word for harvest reward — you reaped what you sowed.
Plural twistEarnings means company profits, not just your paycheck.
CousinsEarnest money shares the same deserving root.
AccountingRetained earnings are profits the company refused to share.