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福利 (fú lì) — (employee) benefits, welfare; social welfare, public benefits

Definition

Concrete, often organizational 'welfare / benefits' — the perks an employer or government provides. More tangible than the abstract 利益 ('interest, benefit') and not about personal luck like 福气.

(employee) benefitswelfaresocial welfarepublic benefits
Measure word · 个
Easily confused

Examples

  • 福利，。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī de fú lì fēi cháng hǎo, yuán gōng dōu hěn mǎn yì.
    This company's benefits are very good, and the employees are all satisfied.
  • 。
    Zhèng fǔ yīng gāi wèi lǎo rén hé ér tóng tí gōng gèng duō fú lì.
    The government should provide more welfare for the elderly and children.
  • 。
    Shè huì fú lì zhì dù zài xǔ duō guó jiā bú duàn wán shàn.
    Social welfare systems are continuously improving in many countries.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

福fúblessing
利lìbenefit

福 means blessing and 利 means benefit, so together they mean welfare or benefits.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
示示shì
Sound part声符shēngfú
畐
畐fú福fú
Same sound today

福 combines 示 and 畐, with 示 carrying the meaning and 畐 the sound.

Open 福 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

利 combines 禾 (grain) and 刀 (knife), showing a knife used to cut grain.

Open 利 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 6Society & Public Life

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