Several parts combine into one character.

益 is a beautifully visual compound ideograph: 水 (water, in its sideways stylized form on top) + 皿 (a dish / vessel — at the bottom). The composite picture is exactly water overflowing the rim of a dish — abundance spilling beyond capacity = gain, increase, benefit, profit. Originally 益 was the character now written 溢 (yì, "to overflow"); as the meaning specialized into "benefit / profit," a new character 溢 was created to retain the literal "overflow" sense, while 益 took the abstract meaning. This is a textbook case of semantic divergence creating two characters from one.

益 forms the canonical pair with 損 (loss): together they map gain and loss across financial, ethical, and ecological vocabulary.

Korean reading "ik." 利益 (iik, profit / benefit — top-frequency Korean noun), 有益 (yuik, beneficial), 無益 (muik, useless / not beneficial), 收益 (suik, revenue / income — accounting term), 公益 (gongik, public interest / common good — used in 공익광고 "public service announcement"), 益鳥 (ikjo, "beneficial bird" — birds that eat pest insects, contrasting with 害鳥 "harmful birds").

Mandarin yì, 4th tone. 益 (yì), 利益 (lìyì, benefit / interest — used in political and economic contexts: 国家利益 national interests), 收益 (shōuyì, earnings), 有益 (yǒuyì, beneficial), 益处 (yìchu, advantage), 受益 (shòuyì, "to receive benefit" = to gain benefit from). Modern Chinese keeps 益 in active formal-register use.

Japanese on-reading エキ (eki) — 利益 (rieki, profit — financial), 収益 (shūeki, earnings), 有益 (yūeki, beneficial). Alternative on-reading ヤク (yaku) appears notably in religious vocabulary: 御利益 (goriyaku, "honored benefit" = divine grace / blessing one receives from praying to a deity at a Shinto shrine or Buddhist temple). Japanese visitors to shrines pray for ご利益 — concrete blessings like good health, exam success, safe travel. The same character takes different on-readings depending on context: financial (rieki) vs spiritual (riyaku).

Memory aid: water (水) overflowing a dish (皿) — abundance spilling over the rim = profit. Pair with 損 (hand removing = loss).