yíng​lì

earn profit

yíng win Simplified

Simplified form of . Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and 𣎆 represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
bèi sea shell

Shells were used as currency in ancient China.

𣎆
𣎆 Sound component
luò legendary animal
Change in sound

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

lì, li benefit

Depicts harvesting grain () with a blade (). Harvest was the main source of profit in agricultural societies.

Components

Iconic component
grain stalk
Iconic component
dāo knife

is a component form of .


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 11 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartlijHC.ri[t]-s sharp; profit

說文解字

《說文》:“利,銛也。从刀;和然後利,从和省。《易》曰:‘利者,義之和也。’”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

win Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and 𣎆 represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
bèi sea shell

Shells were used as currency in ancient China.

𣎆
𣎆 Sound component
luò legendary animal
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartyeng[ɢ]eŋ profit; surplus

說文解字

《說文》:“贏,有餘賈利也。从貝,聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica