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绝地 (jué dì) — precipice; extremely dangerous place; dead end; hopeless situation

Definition

Literally 'cut-off ground' — a hopeless or extremely dangerous situation, used for both a literal precipice and a figurative dead end with no way out.

noun
precipiceextremely dangerous placedead endhopeless situation

Examples

  • 绝地，。
    Nà ge xuán yá xià miàn shì yí gè jué dì, méi rén gǎn xià qù.
    Below that cliff is a precipice; no one dares to go down.
  • ，绝地。
    Shī bài zhī hòu, tā gǎn dào zì jǐ xiàn rù le jué dì.
    After failing, he felt he had fallen into a hopeless situation.
  • 绝地，。
    Zhè tiáo hé de qián fāng shì jué dì, wǒ men zhǐ néng huí tóu.
    Ahead of this river is a dead end; we can only turn back.

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.

绝juécut off/desperate
地dìland

“绝” gives cut off or desperate and “地” gives land, so the word means a place with no way out.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 絕; 绝 is its simplified writing.

In the traditional form 絕, 刀 (knife) and 幺 (silk) show a knife cutting silk threads. The simplified 绝 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original picture.

Open 绝 →

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
Safety & Danger

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