利

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

• 俐 唎 娳 悧 浰 猁 梸 琍 脷 䂰 蜊 誗 鋓 鯏 𥚥 䬆 𢈱 痢
• 悡 梨 犁 㴝 𪏭 䖽 鋫 䱘 䵩 峲 莉 筣 鬁

• り
• リ

• KangXi: 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
• Unihan data for U+F9DD

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

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

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 [script needed] (wriqba, “to scratch”), Burmese ရိတ် (rit, “to cut, reap, mow shave”).

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 [Jyutping]  ―  Lee Hysan (Hong Kong opium merchant)

利

1. Used in 利市 (“red packets”).
2. (Cantonese) Used in 老利 (lou⁵ lai^6-2).

(grade 4 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. profit, benefit

• Go-on: り (ri, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: り (ri, Jōyō)
• Kun: きく (kiku, 利く, Jōyō); よい (yoi, 利い); するどい (surudoi, 利い); とし (toshi, 利し)

From Middle Chinese 利 (lij^H, “profit”).

• (Tokyo) り​ [ríꜜ] (Atamadaka – [1])[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [ɾʲi]

利(り) • (ri) 

1. profit, benefit, advantage

• 害(がい) (gai, “damage”)

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

1. to benefit

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

1. Hanja form^? of 리 (“benefit”).

• 복리 (福利, bongni, “welfare”)
• 이율 (利率, iyul, “interest rate”)

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

利 (*-i)

1. and (connecting particle for nouns)
   • mid-6th century, Wooden Tablet #221 from Seongsan Sanseong, Haman:

     人次人嗚

     many people [lit. people and people] lamented

   • c. 965, 均如 (Gyunyeo), “隨喜功德歌 (Suhuigongdeok-ga)”, in 均如傳 (Gyunyeo-jeon) [Works of Gyunyeo]:

     佛伊衆生毛叱所只

     so that there is no [more] "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

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.

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

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

利: Hán Việt readings: lợi[1][2][3]
利: Nôm readings: lời[1][2][3][4], lợi[1][2][3], rời[1][2], rơi[1], ráy[1], lì[3]

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