地区
ちく · chiku · JLPT N3 · noun
district
🗺️ 地区 = ground + ward: a ward of the land, i.e. a district
地 (chi) means ground or land; 区 (ku) is the ward, as in Tokyo's 23 special wards like 渋谷区. Together they name a marked-off piece of ground. The same 区 shows up in 区別, which means distinction, marking one part off from another.
地 — earth 土 + 也 (phonetic)
地 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The left component 土 means 'earth' or 'soil' and gives the meaning, while 也 on the right hints at the pronunciation. Originally referring to the ground or land, it broadened to mean 'place,' 'region,' and 'territory.'
区 — enclosure 匚 + 品 (items)
Originally a pictograph of items (品) hidden inside a container (匚), meaning to store or conceal. The sense extended to a bounded space, then to an administrative district or area. As a surname read Ōu, it preserves the older 'hidden/enclosed' nuance.