世界
shìjiè · HSK 3
world
🌍 世界 = generation/era (世) + boundary/realm (界) → the world
世 means age or generation; 界 means realm or boundary. Together they form the realm of all generations — the world. Compare 界 in 边界 (border) and 世 in 世纪 (century).
界 — field 田 + scope 介
界 combines 田 (field) as the semantic component with 介 (jiè) as the phonetic. The original sense referred to boundaries between fields, then broadened to any border, limit, or realm — yielding modern meanings like 'world' (世界) and 'boundary' (边界).