About
The character "瘠" is structurally composed of the semantic radical "疒", which indicates a connection to disease or physical condition, and the phonetic component "脊", providing both its pronunciation and an associative link to the bony, lean quality of the spine, thus etymologically pointing to a state of emaciation or bodily wasting. Initially used in classical contexts to describe physical thinness and frailty, often as a result of illness, its meaning gradually expanded beyond the human body to characterize land that was barren or unproductive, and further into abstract realms denoting general meagerness, poverty, or scarcity. This semantic broadening illustrates how the core concept of deficiency inherent in its formation was systematically extended to describe both tangible and intangible forms of lack across different domains of use.
Example Sentences Hide
这片土地很贫瘠。
贫瘠的土壤难种庄稼。
由于土地贫瘠，农民收入很少。
他们努力改善贫瘠的耕地。
这片山区土地瘠薄，作物产量低。
科学家研究如何使瘠土变肥沃。
尽管土地瘦瘠，他们仍坚持耕作。
长期过度开发导致土地日益贫瘠。