理 (lǐ): reason; logic; truth

Meanings

1 reason; logic; truth
2 to manage; to handle
3 texture; grain (of wood)

Characters

理

li

reason; logic; to manage

Examples

你说得有道理。

Nǐ shuō de yǒu dàolǐ.

What you say makes sense.

他不理我。

Tā bùlǐ wǒ.

He ignores me.

Tips

usage

理 is extremely productive: 道理 (dàolǐ, reason/truth), 管理 (guǎnlǐ, to manage), 理解 (lǐjiě, to understand), 心理 (xīnlǐ, psychology), 处理 (chǔlǐ, to handle), 地理 (dìlǐ, geography), 物理 (wùlǐ, physics).

grammar

不理 (bù lǐ) means 'to ignore someone': 她生气了，不理我了 (She got angry and is ignoring me).

Components

radical

王 wáng

king; jade (as left-side radical)

When 王 sits on the left it is actually 玉 (jade) with its bottom dot lost — the 'jade radical'. 理 originally meant 'to work jade along its natural grain', from which came 'pattern, principle, reason'. Same radical appears in 玩 play, 珠 pearl, 玛 agate, 班 group.

phonetic

里 lǐ

inside; village; li (mile)

Phonetic — 里 lǐ exact match for 理 lǐ. 里 itself shows 田 field over 土 earth (a settled village). Same phonetic appears in 鲤 carp, 厘 cm, 浬 nautical mile. The combination 'jade + lǐ' carries no etymological imagery; 里 here is pure sound.