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地皮 (dì pí) — land (for building or development)

Definition

地皮 refers to land as real estate, especially a plot bought or developed for building — more focused on the site/plot than the surface under your feet. Often used in property and development contexts.

noun
land (for building or development)
Measure word · 块

Examples

  • 地皮。
    Zhè kuài dì pí hěn shì hé jiàn yí dòng fáng zi.
    This piece of land is very suitable for building a house.
  • 地皮。
    Tā men mǎi le yí kuài dì pí zhǔn bèi kāi fā.
    They bought a piece of land and plan to develop it.
  • 地皮。
    Yǔ hòu dì pí hái shì shī de.
    After the rain, the ground is still wet.

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
皮písurface

地 “land” and 皮 “skin/surface” combine to mean the surface of land, hence building ground.

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 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

皮 shows a hand pulling fur off an animal pelt, with the pelt drawn at the upper left.

Open 皮 →
Appears in
Geography & Landforms

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