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领地 (lǐng dì) — feudal territory, manor; domain, sphere of influence

Definition

Literally 'territory,' used for a noble's feudal domain in historical contexts and, figuratively, for someone's area of authority or expertise (e.g. 学术领地).

noun
feudal territorymanordomainsphere of influence
Measure word · 块

Examples

  • 领地。
    Zhè piàn tǔ dì céng shì zhè wèi guì zú de lǐng dì.
    This land was once this noble's territory.
  • ，领地。
    Zài xué shù yán jiū fāng miàn, tā de lǐng dì fēi cháng guǎng fàn.
    In academic research, his domain is very broad.
  • 领地。
    Zhè ge shè qū shì xiāo fáng jú de lǐng dì.
    This community is the fire department's jurisdiction.

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.

领lǐngterritorial
地dìland

领 gives the sense of territory or jurisdiction, and 地 is land; together they name a territory.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 領; 领 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yè
Sound part声符shēngfú
令
令lìng領lǐng
Same sound today

The traditional form 領 has 令 as a sound part and 頁 as a meaning part; the simplified 领 is a later shorthand.

Open 领 →

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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