佃 (tián): to cultivate (land)

Meanings

古人佃猎为生。

Gǔrén tián liè wéi shēng.

The ancients cultivated land and hunted to live.

这些人山居，佃于石壁之间。

Zhèxiē rén shān jū, tián yú shíbì zhījiān.

These people lived in the mountains and farmed among the cliffs.

usage

Read tián, 佃 is a classical verb meaning to cultivate land or, by loan for 畋, to hunt. This reading is rare in modern Chinese.

radical

亻 rén

person

The person radical, side form of 人, marks 佃 as a human activity: a person working rented farmland.

phonetic

田 tián

field; farmland

Both supplies the sound (clearly behind the tián reading) and contributes meaning, the farmland that is rented and worked. Seen standing alone as 田.

佃 tián