地利 (dì lì) — favorable geographical position; strategic location advantage; land productivity; fertility of the land

Definition

地利 is a formal, written noun referring to the advantage of terrain or land — usually paired with 天时 ('timing') and 人和 ('people') in the classic phrase 天时地利人和.

noun
favorable geographical positionstrategic location advantageland productivityfertility of the land
Easily confused

Examples

  • ，地利。
    Zhàn zhēng shèng fù bù jǐn qǔ jué yú bīng lì, hái zài yú dì lì yǔ rén hé.
    Victory in war depends not only on military strength but also on favorable terrain and harmonious people.
  • 地利，。
    Zhè ge chéng shì yōng yǒu liáng hǎo de dì lì, shì hé fā zhǎn shāng yè.
    This city has a favorable geographical position, making it suitable for business development.
  • 地利，。
    Nóng mín shēn zhī dì lì de zhòng yào xìng, suǒ yǐ jīng xīn xuǎn zé gēng zhòng zuò wù.
    Farmers deeply understand the importance of land productivity, so they carefully choose which crops to plant.

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.

地dìland
利lìadvantage

地利 joins land and advantage, so it names the benefit of a place or its fertility.

Characters in this word

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 →

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

利 combines 禾 (grain) and 刀 (knife), showing a knife used to cut grain.

Open 利 →

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