Origin

This character combines a component meaning field or plot of land on the left with a component suggesting length or duration on the right. Together, they represent a furrow or ridge in a field—a long, narrow strip of cultivated earth running through farmland. The image captures both the spatial division of a field into sections and the linear, extended nature of these farming rows. Over time, the character came to mean not just the physical furrow itself but also a unit of measurement for agricultural land, since furrows were a standard way to divide and measure fields.