农村
nóngcūn · HSK 3
rural area
🌾🏡 农村 = 农 (farming) + 村 (village) = countryside
农 means agriculture or farming, and 村 means village. Together 农村 literally reads as farming-village, the standard word for rural countryside. Contrast with 城市 (city).
村 — tree 木 + inch/measure 寸
村 combines 木 (tree) with 寸 (inch/hand), where 寸 also serves as the phonetic. Originally written 邨 with the 邑 (settlement) radical, it referred to a small rural settlement, often near trees. The modern form 村 became standard, keeping the meaning 'village.'