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营利 (yíng lì) — to seek profit; to be profit-oriented

Definition

营利 means running a business specifically to make profit, with the focus on the goal. Compared to 赚 (just earning money), 营利 emphasizes profit-seeking as an aim, and pairs with 非营利 ('non-profit').

verb
to seek profitto be profit-oriented
Easily confused

Examples

  • 营利。
    Hěn duō qǐ yè yǐ yíng lì wèi mù dì.
    Many enterprises aim to seek profit.
  • 营利，。
    Zhè ge xiàng mù bú shì wèi le yíng lì, ér shì wèi le gōng yì.
    This project is not for profit, but for public welfare.
  • 营利。
    Tā men tōng guò chuàng xīn lái yíng lì.
    They seek profit through innovation.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

营yíngseek
利lìprofit

营 means seek or manage, and 利 means profit, so the word means to seek profit.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 營; 营 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
宮宮gōngpalace
Sound part声符shēngfú
熒
熒yíng營yíng
Same sound today

The traditional form 營 pairs 宮 (palace) with 熒 as a sound part, depicting a person working all night with a light on his house; the simplified 营 is a later abbreviation.

Open 营 →

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 7-9

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