突き当たり

つきあたり · tsukiatari · JLPT N2 · noun

gram

🧱 突き (thrust) + 当たり (hit): push forward until you hit the wall at the end

The word combines 突き (a forceful thrust) and 当たり (a hit or contact). A road that ends at a wall is where your forward push finally hits something.

当 — small ⺌ + crown 冖 + hand 彐 (simplified from 當: 尚 + 田)
Originally written 當, combining 田 'field' with 尚 as a phonetic. The early sense was 'to match' or 'face' a field of equal value, extended to 'correspond to', 'ought to', and 'serve as'. The simplified form 当 streamlines the upper 尚 component.

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