埃

Formed as a phono-semantic compound:

土 (earth, soil) provides the semantic component, suggesting dust and dirt.

矣 (final particle ŭi, used phonetically) provides the sound.

The character thus conveys the sense of minute particles of earth—dust or fine soil.

Semantic range:

- dust, dirt, fine particles (흙먼지, 티끌);

- something extremely small or insignificant (미세, 미소);

- in scientific usage: 10⁻¹⁰ (십진수 단위 접두어);

- abbreviation for Egypt (埃及) in East Asian texts.

먼지 (塵埃) — dust, dirt

인생일대사 (人生一大事, 塵埃未定) — “life’s great matters, still undecided” (literary phrase with 塵埃 “dust”)

애급 (埃及) — Egypt

미세埃 (微細埃) — fine dust, micro-dust (pollution term)