地
- earth;
- ground;
- land;
Etymology
Phono-semantic compound:
土 (흙 토) – gives the meaning (“earth, soil”);
也 (어조사 야) – provides the sound.
Usage in Korean
Used in compounds like 大地 (대지, “the earth”), 土地 (토지, “land”).
Additional notes
The 4th stroke of 地 is rare and appears in very few characters.
Only a handful of hanja share this stroke:
也 (야) and derivatives like 地 (지), 他 (타), 池 (지), 馳 (치), 弛 (이), 拖 (타), 施 (시), and 乜 (먀).
Because of this unique stroke, 地 is treated as an important character in calligraphy study.
