草坪
cǎopíng · HSK 7
lawn
🌿 cao = grass + ping = flat surface — a flat stretch of grass
草 (cǎo) means grass and 坪 (píng) means a level ground or terrace. Together they literally describe a flat area covered in grass — exactly what a lawn is.
草 — grass radical 艹 + 早 (zǎo, phonetic)
草 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The top 艹 (grass radical, derived from 艸) gives the meaning 'grass' or 'plant', while 早 underneath supplies the sound. Originally 草 referred to a specific plant and acorn-like fruit, but it shifted to mean grass and vegetation broadly, and by extension 'rough' or 'draft'.