Onyomi: ルイ · Kunyomi: たぐ.い · Meanings: class, genus, kind, sort, variety
Kanji for class, genus, kind, sort, variety
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The kanji 類 is built from three key parts: 米 (rice), 米 again, and 頁 (a head or a person). In ancient times, rice was sorted by type, grain size, and quality. People would examine each grain closely, grouping similar ones together. The double “rice” element represents many small items being compared side by side, while 頁 symbolizes a person judging or categorizing them. Together, these parts create the idea of sorting things by likeness, grouping what is of the same kind or class. Over centuries, this image evolved into 類 — the concept of “type,” “category,” or “similar kind.”
類 shows a person (頁) examining two groups of rice (米 + 米), symbolizing the act of comparing and sorting things by similarity — identifying what belongs to the same type or category.
Imagine a person holding handfuls of rice, comparing the grains and sorting them into groups—“these ones are alike, these belong together.” That careful grouping feeling is 類: things of the same kind.
| Word | Reading | Meaning | Meta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 類 | るい | kind, sort, type, class, genus, order, family | common Noun, Noun, used as a suffix |
| 類い | たぐい | kind, sort, type | JLPT-N1 Noun |
| 類似 | るいじ | resemblance, similarity, likeness, analogy | common JLPT-N1 Noun, Suru verb, Intransitive verb, Noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no' |
| 類推 | るいすい | analogy | common JLPT-N1 Noun, Suru verb, Transitive verb |
| 類人猿 | るいじんえん | anthropoid ape, anthropoid, ape | Noun |
| 類型 | るいけい | type, pattern, shape, genre, breed | Noun |
| 類似点 | るいじてん | (point of) similarity, resemblance | Noun |
| 類友 | るいとも | hobby friend, friend gained through common interests or personality | Noun |
| 類書 | るいしょ | similar books | Noun |
| 類する | るいする | to be similar (to), to be akin (to), to be like | Suru verb - special class, Intransitive verb |