益 (yì): benefit, profit, advantage
益 (yì) is a Chinese character meaning “benefit.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 水 (structural) and 皿 (structural). It ranks #649 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 益 a container 皿 overflowing with water 水. Its radical form 皿 (dish) appears in many related characters such as 盐 (yán, salt), 盖 (gài, lid), 盘 (pán, tray).
Definitions
- benefit
- profit
- advantage
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA container 皿 overflowing with water 水
Decomposition: ⿱水皿 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 益 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 益
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 利益noun | lì yì | benefit | 5 |
| 有益adjective | yǒu yì | useful | 5 |
| 收益noun | shōu yì | earnings | 6 |
| 日益adverb | rì yì | day by day | 6 |
| 公益noun | gōng yì | public good | 6 |
| 益处noun | yì chu | benefit | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 受益verb | shòu yì | to benefit from |
| 权益noun | quán yì | rights |
| 得益verb | dé yì | to derive benefit |
| 获益verb | huò yì | to profit from sth |
| 无益adjective | wú yì | no good |
| 良师益友phrase | liáng shī yì yǒu | good teacher and helpful friend (idiom) |
| 受益匪浅 | shòu yì fěi qiǎn | to benefit (from) |
| 效益noun | xiào yì | benefit |
| 多多益善phrase | duō duō yì shàn | the more the better |
| 老当益壮phrase | lǎo dāng yì zhuàng | old but vigorous (idiom) |
| 益智verb | yì zhì | to grow the intellect |
| 集思广益phrase | jí sī guǎng yì | collecting opinions is of wide benefit (idiom) |
| 延年益寿phrase | yán nián yì shòu | (idiom) to prolong life |
| 精益求精phrase | jīng yì qiú jīng | (idiom) to constantly seek to improve |
| 益友noun | yì yǒu | helpful friend |
益 appears in 85 compound words: 19 as the first character, 44 as the last, and 38 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 益 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (18)
to have one's ambition or resolve growing stronger even though they are old
to make use of one's position to gain profit for oneself or one's associates
poor but ambitious (idiom); hard-pressed but determined; the worse one's position, the harder one must fight back
to make use of one's position to gain profit for oneself or one's associates
Showing 12 of 18 idioms containing 益.
Example Sentences
这个益字在古汉语中有不同的含义。
zhè gě yì zì zài gǔ hàn yǔ zhōng yǒu bù tóng de hán yì .
The character "益" had different meanings in classical Chinese.
推动物质文明和精神文明相得益彰
tuī dòng wù zhì wén míng hé jīng shén wén míng xiāng dé yì zhāng
Promote material civilization and spiritual civilization to complement each other
...下港口 华外交部 : 坚决维护企业正当权益
. . . xià gǎng kǒu huá wài jiāo bù : jiān jué wéi hù qǐ yè zhèng dāng quán yì
... Xia Port Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises
冷甩女富商!陈子强遭控假公益“画作捐款呒影” 经纪人斥抹黑
lěng shuǎi nǚ fù shāng ! chén zǐ qiáng zāo kòng jiǎ gōng yì huà zuò juān kuǎn 呒 yǐng jīng jì rén chì mā hēi
Cold dumping of a wealthy female businessman! Chen Ziqiang was accused of fake public welfare "painting donations" and his agent reprimanded and smeared
...洁队马年开工收运 婉拒红包逾21万转捐公益
. . . jié duì mǎ nián kāi gōng shōu yùn wǎn jù hóng bāo yú 2 1 wàn zhuǎn juān gōng yì
... The clean team started construction and transportation in the Year of the Horse, and declined more than 210,000 red envelopes to be donated to public welfare
...乘搭新干线引争议 知事:可创17亿日圆效益
. . . chéng dā xīn gān xiàn yǐn zhēng yì zhī shì : kě chuàng 1 7 yì rì yuán xiào yì
... Controversy over taking the Shinkansen Governor: It can create a benefit of 1.7 billion yen
罗伯特的健康状况日益恶化。
Luóbótè de jiànkāngzhuàngkuàng rìyì èhuà.
Robert's health deteriorated day by day.
川普的行为符合俄罗斯的利益。
Chuānpǔ de xíngwéi fúhé éluósī de lìyì.
Trump is acting in Russia's interests.
企业第一季度收益大幅增长。
Qǐyè dìyījìdù shōuyì dàfú zēngzhǎng.
Corporate earnings in the first quarter improved sharply.
他只顾自己的利益。
Tā zhǐgù zìjǐ de lìyì.
All he thinks about is himself.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 益 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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