利

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word 利. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word 利, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say 利 in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word 利 you have here. The definition of the word 利 will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of利, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
利 U+5229, 利
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5229
← 刨
 		CJK Unified Ideographs 刪 →
利 U+F9DD, 利
CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-F9DD
← 隆
 		CJK Compatibility Ideographs 吏 →

Translingual

Stroke order
7 strokes

Han character

利 (Kangxi radical 18, 刀+5, 7 strokes, cangjie input 竹木中弓 (HDLN), four-corner 22900, composition ⿰禾刂)

Derived characters

Descendants

References

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 138, character 19
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 1932
  • Dae Jaweon: page 313, character 8
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 329, character 2
  • Unihan data for U+5229

Chinese

simp. and trad.
 利

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 利
Shang Western Zhou Warring States Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Chu slip and silk script Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
Characters in the same phonetic series (利) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
犁 *riːl, *ril
黎 *riːl
莉 *riːl, *r'il, *r'i
黧 *riːl
鯬 *riːl, *ril
筣 *riːl, *ri
蔾 *riːl, *ril
藜 *riːl
邌 *riːl
瓈 *riːl
鵹 *rel
棃 *ril
梨 *ril
蟍 *ril
蜊 *ril
鑗 *ril
利 *rids
痢 *rids
浰 *riːns

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 禾 (“grain”) + 刀 (“knife”) – to reap grain (禾) with a knife (刀).

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ri:t (“to reap, scrape, shave, cut, sever”) (STEDT, Schuessler, 2007); cognate to Mizo rîit (“to scrap with a hoe”), Western Gurung (wriqba, “to scratch”), Burmese ရိတ် (rit, “to cut, reap, mow shave”).

Pronunciation 1

Note: lei6-2 - in 貴利／贵利 and as the second syllable in two-character business names.
Note: lê - sense “sharp” only.
Note:
  • lāi - vernacular;
  • lī - literary.
Note:
  • li6 - literary;
  • lai7 - vernacular.
Rime
Character 利
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 來 (37)
Final (韻) 脂 (15)
Tone (調) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) III
Fanqie 力至切
Baxter lijH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/liɪH/
Pan
Wuyun 		/liH/
Shao
Rongfen 		/ljɪH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/liH/
Li
Rong 		/liH/
Wang
Li 		/liH/
Bernard
Karlgren 		/liH/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		lì
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		lei6
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 利
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		lì
Middle
Chinese 		‹ lijH ›
Old
Chinese 		/*C.ri-s/
English sharp; profit

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. * as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 利
Reading # 1/1
No. 7898
Phonetic
component 		利
Rime
group 		至
Rime
subdivision 		1
Corresponding
MC rime 		利
Old
Chinese 		/*rids/

Definitions

利

  1. benefit; advantage
  2. profit
    薄利多銷／薄利多销  ―  bólìduōxiāo  ―  small profits but quick returns
  3. (finance) interest
    高利貸／高利贷  ―  gāolìdài  ―  usury; high-interest loan
  4. to benefit; to be beneficial to
  5. favourable; successful
  6. sharp; sharp-edged
  7. a surname
    利希慎 [Cantonese]  ―  lei6 hei1 san6   ―  Lee Hysan (Hong Kong opium merchant)

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 快 (“sharp; sharp-edged”)
Variety Location Words
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 鋒利, 銳利
Mandarin Beijing 快
Taiwan 利
Jinan 快
Xi'an 快
Wuhan 快
Chengdu 快
Yangzhou 快
Hefei 快
Singapore 利
Cantonese Guangzhou 利
Hong Kong 利
Hong Kong (San Tin Weitou) 快, 利
Hong Kong (Ting Kok) 利, 快
Hong Kong (Tung Ping Chau) 利, 快
Taishan 利
Yangjiang 利
Gan Nanchang 快
Hakka Meixian 利
Miaoli (N. Sixian) 利
Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian) 利
Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu) 利
Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu) 利
Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping) 利
Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an) 利
Hong Kong 快
Jin Taiyuan 快
Northern Min Jian'ou 利
Eastern Min Fuzhou 利
Southern Min Xiamen 利
Tainan 利
Penang (Hokkien) 利
Chaozhou 利
Wu Shanghai 快
Suzhou 快
Wenzhou 快
Xiang Changsha 快
Shuangfeng 快

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (利):
  • → Japanese: 利(り) (ri)
  • → Korean: 리/이(利) (ri/i)
  • → Vietnamese: lợi (利)

Others:

Pronunciation 2

Definitions

利

  1. Used in 利市 (“red packets”).
  2. (Cantonese) Used in 老利 (lou5 lai6-2).

Compounds

Further reading

Japanese

Kanji

利

(grade 4 “Kyōiku” kanji)

  1. profit, benefit

Readings

Compounds

Compounds

Etymology

Kanji in this term
利
り
Grade: 4
on’yomi

From Middle Chinese 利 (MC lijH, “profit”).

Pronunciation

Noun

利(り) • (ri) 

  1. profit, benefit, advantage

Antonyms

Verb

利(り)する • (ri suru) suru (stem 利(り)し (ri shi), past 利(り)した (ri shita))

  1. to benefit

Conjugation

Conjugation of "利する" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)
Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective") 利し りし ri shi
Ren’yōkei ("continuative") 利し りし ri shi
Shūshikei ("terminal") 利する りする ri suru
Rentaikei ("attributive") 利する りする ri suru
Kateikei ("hypothetical") 利すれ りすれ ri sure
Meireikei ("imperative") 利せよ¹
利しろ² 		りせよ¹
りしろ² 		ri seyo¹
ri shiro²
Key constructions
Passive 利される りされる ri sareru
Causative 利させる
利さす 		りさせる
りさす 		ri saseru
ri sasu
Potential 利できる りできる ri dekiru
Volitional 利しよう りしよう ri shiyō
Negative 利しない りしない ri shinai
Negative continuative 利せず りせず ri sezu
Formal 利します りします ri shimasu
Perfective 利した りした ri shita
Conjunctive 利して りして ri shite
Hypothetical conditional 利すれば りすれば ri sureba
¹ Written imperative

² Spoken imperative

References

  1. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. ^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK Publishing, →ISBN

Korean

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Middle Korean readings, if any”)

Pronunciation

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

Wikisource

利 (eumhun 이로울 리 (iroul ri), South Korea 이로울 이 (iroul i))

  1. Hanja form? of 리 (“benefit”).

Compounds

Old Korean

Alternative forms

  • 刂 (*-i) (gugyeol abbreviation)
  • 伊 (*-i)
  • 次 (*-i) (semantically adapted phonogram, potential variant)

Particle

利 (*-i)

  1. and (connecting particle for nouns)
    • mid-6th century, Wooden Tablet #221 from Seongsan Sanseong, Haman:
      人次人嗚
      many people lamented
    • c. 965, 均如 (Gyunyeo), “隨喜功德歌 (Suhuigongdeok-ga)”, in 均如傳 (Gyunyeo-jeon):
      佛伊衆生毛叱所只
      so that there is no "Buddha and the sentient beings"
    • 10th century, Interpretive jeomto gugyeol glosses to Volume 20 of the Jinbon Avatamsaka Sutra:
      一切諸佛刂菩薩
      Each and every Buddha and bodhisattva

Usage notes

利 (*-i) was used to denote particularly intimate connections between nouns, compared to 果 (*-kwa) which had a more general use. The particle was totally extinct by the fifteenth century, and has no known Middle Korean reflex.

The sixth-century attestation given above is the reading of the tablet by linguist Lee Seungjae, who is the only person so far to have interpreted the text. It is possible that future interpreters will analyze 次 differently.

See also

  • 果 (*-kwa, “and; with”, comitative case marker)

References

  • 박진호 (Bak Jin-ho) (2007) “향가 해독과 국어 문법사 [Hyangga haedok-gwa gugeo munbeopsa, Hyangga interpretations and the history of Korean grammar]”, in Gugeohak, volume 51, pages 313–338
  • 이승재 (Lee Seungjae) (2017) 木簡에 기록된 古代 韓國語 [Mokgan-e girokdoen Godae Han'gugeo, The Old Korean Language Inscribed on Wooden Tablets)], Ilchogak, →ISBN

Vietnamese

Han character

利: Hán Việt readings: lợi
利: Nôm readings: lời, lợi, rời, rơi, ráy, lì, rị, lệ

  1. chữ Hán form of lợi (“profit”).
  2. Nôm form of lời (“profit; interest”).

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Nguyễn (2014).
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Nguyễn et al. (2009).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Trần (2004).
  4. ^ Hồ (1976).
Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia