秩

It is a phono-semantic compound, composed of:

禾 (grain, rice plant) – semantic element, associated with orderly rows of planted crops;

失 (sil, to lose) – phonetic element, supplying the sound.

秩 originally evoked orderly rows of grain (禾) aligned under regulation, extended to mean “order, sequence, rank, and official position.”

Semantic range:

- order, arrangement – the idea of proper sequence, as in 秩序 (질서, order).

- rank, position – used for official post or status.

- regulation, rules – orderly principles of governance or ceremony.

It remains a core term across East Asian languages in expressions of orderliness and structured hierarchy.

질서 (秩序) – order, system

직질 (職秩) – office and rank

제질 (祭秩) – ceremonial order, ritual procedures