荒地 (huāng dì) — wasteland; undeveloped land | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

wastelandundeveloped land

Measure word · 块

Examples

荒地。
Zhè piàn huāng dì zhǎng mǎn le zá cǎo.
This wasteland is overgrown with weeds.
荒地，。
Jǐ nián qián zhè lǐ hái shì yí kuài huāng dì, xiàn zài biàn chéng le zhù zhái qū.
A few years ago this was still a piece of undeveloped land; now it has become a residential area.
荒地。
Zhèng fǔ jì huà jiāng zhè piàn huāng dì gǎi zào chéng gōng yuán.
The government plans to transform this wasteland into a park.

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.

荒huāngdesolate

荒 describes land as uncultivated or desolate, and 地 is land, so the sense is wasteland.

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.

艹巟荒

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss, plant

Sound part声符shēngfú

巟

巟huāng荒huāng

Same sound today

荒 is built from 艹 (grass, plant) and 巟, with 巟 giving the sound huāng.

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

土也地

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.

Appears in

Geography & Landforms

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.