売上
うりあげ · uriage · JLPT N2 · noun
amount sold
💴🧾 売上 = sell + raise: what selling raises is your proceeds
売 (uru) means to sell and 上 (ageru) means to raise or lift. Together, urí-age is the amount your selling brings in, which is why 売上高 (uriagedaka) is the usual word for revenue in company reports.
上 — horizontal line above a baseline
上 is an indicative character (指事): a short stroke placed above a longer reference line shows the concept of 'above' or 'up'. The earliest oracle-bone forms used two horizontal lines for this; the modern shape added a vertical stroke for clarity. The core meaning of 'upper, above, to ascend' has stayed stable for millennia.