利润
lìrùn · HSK 5
profit
💰 利润 = 利 (benefit/profit) + 润 (moisten/enrich)
利 originally depicted a blade harvesting grain — the gain from cutting crops, hence 'benefit/profit'. 润 means to moisten or enrich. Together: the enriching benefit, i.e. profit.
利 — grain 禾 + knife 刂
Originally a pictograph showing a knife (刂) cutting grain (禾), depicting harvest. From the idea of a sharp blade reaping crops, it extended to mean 'sharp,' then 'benefit,' 'profit,' or 'advantage' — the gain that comes from a successful harvest.
润 — water radical 氵 + run/king 闰
A semantic-phonetic compound: 氵 (water) gives the meaning, while 闰 (rùn) supplies the sound. The original sense was 'to moisten' or 'to soak,' which extended to 'glossy,' 'sleek,' and figuratively 'to enrich' or 'profit.'