拓く

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 拓く is read ひらく and means to cultivate land or open a new path.
• Basic usage: It is used for physically cultivating wasteland and figuratively opening a new path in scholarship.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Cultivating land
  • 荒れ地を拓いて describes cultivating wasteland to make fields.
• Opening a path
  • 学問の道を拓く figuratively means opening a new path in scholarship.