laid waste, rough, rude, wild
荒 centers on a state of neglect or lack of control: land left wild and unmanaged, surfaces that are rough and untended, or behavior that is rude and unrestrained.
荒 combines 艹 (grass) with 巟, a component associated with emptiness or wasteland. Together they suggest land overgrown with grass and left uncultivated.
Grass 艹 covers a wasteland 巟, making the ground rough and wild. When people act like an untended field, they become rude and uncontrolled.
For コウ, imagine a wild field so rough that even a cow won't enter: cow -> コウ, and the cow avoids the rough, wasted land.
stormy weather; tempest; chaps (of skin)
rough; wild; violent; rude; coarse; harsh; fierce; heavy (e.g. breathing)
to lay waste; to devastate; to damage
(Internet) troll; disturber
wasteland; wilderness; deserted land; prairie; vast plain; wilds; desert; wild land
logs in bark; rough wood; unseasoned timber; new lumber
ruin; destruction; devastation; waste; decay
bad skin; rough skin; unhealthy skin; skin irritation; skin breakouts
to become stormy; to become rough (of the sea)
rough; wild; rude; harsh; gruff; violent
to grow wild; to run to waste; to become degenerate
raging waves; stormy seas
wild; violent; rough-mannered; rude
unheard-of; unprecedented
to grow wild; to run to waste; to become degenerate
wasteland; wilderness; abandoned land; devastated land
Arechi
absurd; nonsensical; preposterous
stormy weather
making a killing; making easy money