There has been a significant increase in the company's profits over the past five years.

increase 是动词，意思是"增加、增长"，这里用作名词表示"增长量"。由前缀 in-（表示"进入"）和词根 crease（来自拉丁语 crescere，意为"生长"）组成，字面意思是"进入生长状态"。