利

Mandarin · pinyin lì#

Meanings · lì

  1. sharp
  2. favorable
  3. advantage
  4. benefit
  5. profit
  6. interest
  7. to do good to
  8. to benefit
Mandarin · pinyin Lì#

Meanings · Lì

  1. surname Li
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Characters in this entry

利
lì · gains, advantage, profit, merit
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4 · li4

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Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

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1character link128same-tone records
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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 11 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

lei6

Cantonese word readings for 利. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

character

  1. benefit; advantage
  2. profit
  3. (finance) interest
  4. to benefit; to be beneficial to
  5. favourable; successful
  6. sharp; sharp-edge
  7. (Leizhou Min, euphemistic) knife (Classifier: 把 mn-l)
  8. a surname
  9. Used in transcription.

character

  1. used in 利市 (“red packets”)
  2. (Cantonese) used in 老利 (lou⁵ lai⁶⁻²)

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack