赢利 (yíng lì) — to make a profit; to gain profit

Definition

verb

to make a profitto gain profit

Easily confused

赢利。
Zhè jiā gōng sī qù nián yíng lì bù shǎo.
This company made a lot of profit last year.
赢利。
Wǒ men yào xiǎng bàn fǎ yíng lì gèng duō.
We need to find ways to make more profit.
赢利。
Tā tóu zī gǔ piào méi yǒu yíng lì.
He didn't make a profit from investing in stocks.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

赢 means to gain, and 利 means profit, so it describes gaining 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 贏; 赢 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

貝貝bèicowry; money

Sound part声符shēngfú

𦝠

𦝠𦝠贏yíng

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 贏 is built from 貝 (cowry; money) and 𦝠, which gives the sound; the simplified 赢 is a later shorthand.

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.