lìn
verb #80,521

Meanings

  1. 1 to rent
  2. 2 to hire; to lease

Examples

Tā chū dào chénglǐ, zūlìn le yì jiān xiǎo gélóu.
When he first arrived in the city he rented a small attic room.
Gōngsī de bàngōng shèbèi dōu shì zūlìn de.
The company leases all its office equipment.

Tips

usage
appears mainly in 租赁 (租赁, 'to lease / rent'), a formal business term. Everyday 'to rent a place to live' is usually just ().

Components

radical
bèi
cowrie; money
is the shell/money radical (cowries were early currency). Renting and leasing are money transactions, so the money radical carries the commercial sense.
phonetic
rèn
to employ; phonetic
supplies the sound (rèn shifting to lìn) and lends a faint meaning flavor: means 'to engage / employ', echoing hiring something for use.

Stroke Order

lìn