領土
りょうど · ryoudo · JLPT N1 · noun
district
🗺️ 領 (collar/neck) + 土 (earth) = the land you hold under your collar, your territory
領 means collar or to govern; 土 is earth. Land you govern, like a territory. Sound-alike: ryoudo, 'ree-oh-doh', rhymes with 'ryo-doh' as in 'owned doe'.
土 — pictograph of a mound of earth on the ground
土 is a pictograph showing a lump or mound of soil resting on the ground line. In oracle bone script it depicted an earthen heap, sometimes interpreted as an altar to the earth god. The meaning has remained stable: earth, soil, or ground.