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私利 (sī lì) — personal gain; selfish interest

Definition

Refers narrowly to personal, self-serving benefit, usually in a negative or critical sense (pursuing 私利, decisions tainted by 私利). Distinct from 利益, which is a neutral word for 'interest / benefit' in general.

noun
personal gainselfish interest

Examples

  • 私利，。
    Tā zuò zhè jiàn shì wán quán shì wèi le gè rén sī lì, bú shì wèi dà jiā.
    He did this entirely for personal gain, not for everyone.
  • 私利。
    Zhēn zhèng de lǐng dǎo zhě bù yīng zhuī qiú sī lì.
    A true leader should not pursue selfish interests.
  • 私利。
    Zhè ge jué dìng méi yǒu chān zá rèn hé sī lì.
    This decision was not mixed with any personal gain.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

私sīprivate
利lìprofit

私 means private or selfish, and 利 means profit; together they refer to personal gain.

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
禾禾hé
Sound part声符shēngfú
厶
厶sī私sī
Same sound today

私 combines 禾 and 厶; 厶 originally represented the word, and 禾 was added later.

Open 私 →

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
Abstract Concepts

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