治

Phono-semantic compound:

水 (water radical) – semantic, indicating relation to water and regulation.

台 (platform, terrace; phonetic) – provides the sound 치.

Originally, the character named a river in ancient China (in present-day Yantai area), similar to 江 or 河, but later that meaning is obsolete. Over time, the sense shifted to “to regulate water” - “to govern, to control.”

In modern Chinese and Korean, it is widely used for governing, curing, regulating, or dealing with matters.

정치 (政治) – politics, governance

치료 (治療) – medical treatment

치수 (治水) – flood control, water management

통치 (統治) – rule, governance

처치 (處治) – handling, dealing with; punishment

Also appears in transliterations (e.g., in phonetic renderings such as “샌드위치 / sandwich”).