street, ward, town, counter for guns, tools, leaves or cakes of something, even number, 4th calendar sign
丁 centers on a discrete, countable unit or block: a street ward, a town block, an even number, or a counter for items like tools and leaves. The 4th calendar sign extends this idea of a fixed, ordered position.
丁 is a pictograph of a nail or a peg, originally representing a T-shaped object. Over time it came to represent a unit or block, and its use as a counter and calendar sign developed from that idea of a fixed, discrete item.
Picture a T-shaped nail driven into a wooden block to mark a street ward or a counted item. The nail 丁 is a unit marker, like an even number or a counter for tools.
For チョウ, imagine a town block where a chief named Chou marks each ward with a nail: Chou -> チョウ, and the nail 丁 marks the block.
exactly; precisely; just; right; opportunely; fortunately
counter for long and narrow things such as guns, scissors, spades, hoes, inksticks, palanquins, candles, jinrikishas, shamisen, oars
polite; courteous; civil
kitchen knife
bystreet; side street; back street; alley; lane
binding (of a book)
chonmage; topknot hairstyle worn by men in the Edo period, and sumo wrestlers today
polite; courteous; hospitable
long stretch; long haul; marathon; time-consuming work
apprentice; shop boy
skillfulness
clove (Syzygium aromaticum)
one leaf (of a book bound in Japanese style)
letter "T"
winter daphne (Daphne odora)
even and odd numbers (on dice)
voluble; eloquent
young man of conscription age who has not yet undergone military training
broad-bladed kitchen knife (for dressing fish); deba knife
symbol; sign; mark