Word
Kana: りえき Romaji: rieki Level: N3

利益

Meaning in English

profit, benefit, gain

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Dictionary

Word context

What it means

利益 means net financial gain or benefit resulting from business activities or actions; it denotes the advantage or profit one obtains, and in a broader sense, any beneficial outcome. It is used in economics, accounting, and everyday talk to describe what is earned or gained.

Main meanings

  • 1) financial profit or earnings from business activity
  • 2) net income after costs, used in financial statements and profitability discussions
  • 3) a broad sense of advantage or benefit gained from an action or decision
  • 4) in some contexts, the benefits or interests of a party in legal or policy discussions

How to use it

Used in economics, accounting, finance, and business reporting to denote net income or financial advantage; in everyday speech, it describes benefits from actions or decisions; appropriate for formal writing, academic texts, corporate communications, and policy analyses.

Variants and close terms

  • 収益 — shūeki: revenue or earnings
  • 利潤 — rijun: profit or profit margin
  • もうけ — mōke: informal term for profit
  • 損益 — son'eki: profit and loss
  • 赤字 — akaji: deficit

Composition

  • 利: advantage or benefit
  • 益: increase or gain
  • 组合: the two kanji form a Sino-Japanese compound yielding a noun meaning net profit or general benefit

Etymology

on'yomi rieki is formed from the on'yomi readings of the two kanji, 利 (ri) and 益 (eki); when combined as 利益, the compound follows Sino-Japanese phonology, producing the modern pronunciation used in everyday Japanese.

Word class

Noun (名詞)

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