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平地 (píng dì) — level ground; flat land

Definition

Noun meaning 'level/flat ground' — a stretch of land with no slope, the opposite of hilly or mountainous terrain. Pairs naturally with 块 as its measure word.

noun
level groundflat land
Measure word · 块

Examples

  • 平地。
    Zhè piàn píng dì hěn shì hé jiàn yí gè zú qiú chǎng.
    This flat land is very suitable for building a soccer field.
  • ，平地。
    Cóng shān dǐng wǎng xià kàn, shì yí piàn guǎng kuò de píng dì.
    Looking down from the mountaintop, there is a vast stretch of flat land.
  • 平地。
    Tā men zài yí chù píng dì shàng dā qǐ le zhàng peng.
    They set up tents on a piece of level ground.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

平píngflat
地dìground

平 means flat and 地 means ground, together meaning flat land.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The origin is uncertain. One explanation combines 八 (division) and 亏 (exhaled air) to show smooth speech.

Open 平 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
也
也yě地dì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

地 is built from 土 (earth) and 也, which gives its sound.

Open 地 →
Appears in
Geography & Landforms

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