垠

A phono-semantic compound consisting of:

土 (earth) — semantic component, indicating earth or land or terrain;

艮 — phonetic component, supplying the sound (은 / yín).

The original idea is the “edge of earth” — the boundary of land.

In Korean, 垠 appears mainly in literary or poetic contexts.

무은 (無垠) — boundless; limitless

광무은 (廣無垠) — vast and without limit

지은 (地垠) — land boundary (rare, classical)

垠 often implies a natural or physical boundary, especially of land.

In literary style, it frequently conveys poetic vastness. It often appears in descriptive prose about nature or geography.

Related boundary characters:

界 — boundary; realm

境 — border; territory

涯 — edge; limit (often of water)

邊 — side; border

Classical citations:

《文選》 (Wen Xuan)

「曠野無垠」

“The vast plains are without boundary.”

Expression describing boundless landscapes often employ 垠.