移

Phono-semantic compound:

禾 (벼 화, “grain, rice plant”) — semantic, representing agriculture or cultivation.

多 (많을 다, “many”) — phonetic, giving the sound 이 (yí) and implying multiplicity or repetition of movement.

Originally, the character depicted the act of moving rice plants from one field to another — that is, transplanting seedlings. Over time, the meaning generalized to all kinds of movement or transfer, both physical and metaphorical.

이동(移動) — movement, migration, to move

이전(移轉) — transfer, relocation (of place or ownership)

이식(移植) — transplantation (of plants or organs

이민(移民) — emigration, immigration

이의(移議) — transfer of discussion or reconsideration (in formal contexts)

In classical Chinese, 移 was often used in administrative and ritual texts to mean “to transfer (officials or goods)” or “to change (location, allegiance, or feeling).”

The metaphorical sense “to change one’s mind or emotion” appears in phrases like 移情 (이정, ‘to shift one’s feelings’) and 移志 (이지, ‘to change one’s will’).

In Confucian texts, the concept of 不移 (“unyielding, unmoved”) is associated with steadfast virtue — i.e., a mind or will that does not “shift.”

迻