利益
Meaning in Englishprofit, benefit, gain
Animated kanji stroke order
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)