The kanji 土 primarily represents "earth," "soil," or "ground." It encompasses the physical earth we stand on, the land, and the material that constitutes the surface of the planet. It can also figuratively refer to the foundation or base of something.

・On-yomi (音読み): ド (do) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): つち (tsuchi)

⚫︎ 土地 (tochi) Translation: Land; plot of land. ⚫︎ 土曜日 (doyoubi) Translation: Saturday (literally, "earth day"). ⚫︎ 土木 (doboku) Translation: Civil engineering (literally, "earth and wood").

The kanji 土 is a pictograph. It depicts a clod of earth or a mound of soil, representing the ground or earth itself. The horizontal line at the bottom represents the flat surface, and the stroke above it depicts the ground above this surface. Over time, the form simplified but retained the core meaning of earth or ground.