noun
cloth; fabric; material; texture
The common everyday sense for cloth or textile material, especially before it has been made into clothing or goods; can also refer to the feel or texture of that material.
このコートには厚手の生地が使われている。
Thick fabric is used for this coat.
カーテン用の生地を選んだ。
I chose fabric for the curtains.
noun
Cooking and baking use; often appears in compounds or phrases such as パン生地, ピザ生地, and ケーキの生地.
パン生地を一時間発酵させる。
Let the bread dough rise for an hour.
ケーキの生地を型に流し込む。
Pour the cake batter into the pan.
noun
inherent quality; true character; true colours
Refers to what a person or thing is like underneath outward presentation. This use is less common than the fabric and dough senses and can sound somewhat literary or old-fashioned.
気取らない話し方に、彼女の生地のよさが出ている。
Her unpretentious way of speaking shows her good natural character.
noun
unprocessed base material; unglazed pottery; uncoated metal
Technical or craft use for a surface or body before finishing, glazing, coating, or painting. In ceramics it can mean unglazed pottery; in metalwork it can mean bare, uncoated metal.
陶器の生地に釉薬をかけてから焼く。
Glaze is applied to the unglazed pottery body before firing.
塗装前に金属の生地をきれいに磨く。
Polish the bare metal clean before painting.
noun
bare skin; skin with no make-up
A limited beauty or appearance-related use for skin before make-up or other covering; in everyday speech, 素肌 or すっぴん is usually more natural.
美容の文脈では、生地の肌を生かしたメイクという言い方がある。
In beauty contexts, there is an expression meaning make-up that makes use of the skin as it is.
A more general word for cloth; 生地 often emphasizes fabric as material before it is sewn or made into something.
The ordinary modern word for bare skin; 生地 in this sense is much more limited and context-dependent.
A common reading of the same kanji spelling for a base, groundwork, or underlying material; do not confuse it with the attested reading きじ.
The spelling 生地 combines 生, associated with raw or natural state, and 地, associated with ground, base, or material. This component explanation fits the major meanings, but it should not be taken as a precise historical derivation.