土
- earth;
- soil;
Etymology
It is a pictograph modeled after a heap of soil on the ground.
For reference, the character representing a sprout growing from the ground is 生 (to grow, to be born).
Historically, 土 is one of the Five Elements (오행) and has been considered very important.
It is mutually generating (상생) with 火 (fire) and 金 (metal), but conflicting (상극) with 木 (wood) and 水 (water).
Similar shape characters
土 is easily confused with 士 (scholar), but 士 means “scholar” or “gentleman.”
Characters with 土
- 地 — earth, ground, land;
- 執 — to hold, to possess, to take on (a responsibility);
- 城 — fortress, castle, city;
- 壞 — to collapse, fall apart, destroy, to be ruined, spoiled, or rotten;
- 墓 — grave, tomb;
- 墮 — to fall, to collapse, to degenerate;
- 壇 — altar;
- 在 — to be, to exist, to be present;
- 均 — equal, even, or uniform, to balance, distribute evenly;
- 型 — model, mold, pattern, template;
- 埃 — dust, dirt, fine particles;
- 基 — foundation, base, groundwork;
- 場 — yard, place, open space;
- 境 — border, boundary, situation, condition, region, domain;
土
흙
토
heuk
to
Kangxi radical:32
Strokes:3
Unicode:U+2F1F
Cangjie input:
- 土 (G)
Composition:
- ⿱ 十 一
