利润率 (lì rùn lǜ) — profit margin

Definition

noun
profit margin

Examples

  • 利润率。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī de lì rùn lǜ zài qù nián tí gāo le wǔ gè bǎi fēn diǎn.
    This company's profit margin increased by five percentage points last year.
  • 。
    Gāo lì rùn lǜ tōng cháng yì wèi zhe qǐ yè yǒu jiào qiáng de dìng jià néng lì.
    A high profit margin usually means the business has strong pricing power.
  • 利润率。
    Fēn xī bào gào xiǎn shì tā men de lì rùn lǜ dī yú háng yè píng jūn shuǐ píng.
    The analysis report shows their profit margin is below the industry average.

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.

利润profit
利lìprofit润rùnprofit
联合Side by side
率lǜrate

利 and 润 both suggest profit, and 率 gives the rate, yielding profit margin.

Characters in this word

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 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 潤; 润 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
閏
閏rùn潤rùn
Same sound today

The traditional form 潤 pairs 水 (water) with 閏, which gives the sound and means surplus, to show an ample amount of moisture; the simplified 润 is a later abbreviation.

Open 润 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

率 was drawn as a bird-catching net, with a stick above and below. In the form described, the lower horizontal stroke is missing, so the whole shape represents a rope.

Open 率 →

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