植民地

しょくみんち · shokuminchi · JLPT N1 · noun

colony

🏝️ 植民地 = 植民 (settle, plant people) + 地 (land): land settled by outsiders

植民 means to settle people in new territory, from 植 (plant) and 民 (people). Add 地 (land) and you get the land they settle.

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.'

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