填
tián · HSK 4
fill in
📝 填 = 土 (earth) + 真 (true) — pack earth in truly to fill a hole
Etymology: the 土 radical means earth/soil, and 真 (zhēn) gives the sound. Originally meant tamping earth into a pit to fill it; extended to filling in forms, blanks, or stuffing things.
填 — earth 土 + 真 (zhēn, phonetic)
填 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The 土 (earth) radical signals the meaning—filling in with soil—while 真 supplies the sound (originally close to 'tian'). The original sense was to stuff or pack a hole with earth, later broadened to filling in any gap, form, or blank.