The Chinese word 领地 (lǐngdì) is a compound noun formed through the morphological process of modification, where the first character 领 (lǐng), meaning "to lead", "to possess", or "territory" (as in a domain under one's control), acts as a modifier for the second character 地 (dì), meaning "land" or "area". Syntactically, this creates an endocentric compound, a word where the head (地, "land") is qualified by the preceding element (领, indicating possession or jurisdiction). Therefore, the combined meaning is "land that is led/possessed", semantically translating to "domain", "territory", or "fiefdom", referring specifically to an area under the rule or ownership of a lord, state, or authority.