Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Tools & Weapons

益: benefit, gain

Also: profit, advantage

JLPT N110 strokesGrade 5Your ink: 白 Not met

八 and 皿 carry the meaning

10 strokes
  • Oracle bone · Shang
  • Bronze · Zhou
  • Today

Oracle bone and bronze: Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Two readings, and the words that use each

エキeki · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 益鳥えきちょうuseful bird species
  • 益虫えきちゅうuseful insect species
  • 利益りえきbenefit, profit, gain [n.]
  • 実益じつえきactual benefit, real gain
  • 収益しゅうえきearnings, proceeds, returns
  • 有益なゆうえきなbeneficial, profitable
  • 無益なむえきなuseless, futile, vain

ヤクyaku · on'yomi

  • 御利益ごりやくgrace of God

Special readingsThese words are read as a whole, not from the readings above.

  • 益々ますますincreasingly, still more

Also read ます, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.

Learn it 4 steps
Print sheet Present
成り立ち

Where it comes from

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Dinner is served! Imagine a beautiful ceramic plate or a sturdy wooden bowl ready to hold a feast.”
More in the 皿 plate story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
八

Also built on eight (八)

All 23
皿

Also built on plate (皿)

All 8

Also read エキ

6 kanji share this on'yomi

Also read ヤク

8 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
益 benefit · 八
vs盆 basin · 分
益 has 八 where 盆 has 分.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · yì

Same form: 益 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).

Simplified
益 mainland China, Singapore
Traditional
益 Taiwan, Hong Kong

Pinyin yì most common reading

Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.

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