yíng
verb #32,567

Meanings

  1. 1 to be full
  2. 2 to be filled with
  3. 3 surplus
  4. 4 profit

Examples

Tā yǎnlǐ yíng zhe lèishuǐ.
Her eyes were brimming with tears.
Jīnnián gōngsī yíng le bùshǎo.
The company turned a sizable profit this year.

Tips

memory
The character has (dish / vessel) at the bottom — the 'full' meaning is the picture of a vessel filled to the brim. From this come 充盈 (full), 盈余 (surplus), 盈利 (profit), and the famous ('the moon waxes and wanes').

Components

radical
mǐn
dish; vessel
Bottom dish radical, depicting a flat-bottomed vessel with a base. Anchors as something contained — a dish brimming over the rim. Same vessel family: (overflow, originally water over a dish), (plate), (basin), (salt). The picture is a vessel filled to and past its capacity.
semantic
to gain profit (here graphic top)
Top portion, an archaic graph meaning to profit or gain. In it suggests fullness through accumulation — what you gain piles up over time. Functions semantically here, marking as a verb of overflowing abundance: 盈利 (profit), 盈余 (surplus).

Stroke Order

yíng