Meaning of 族
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- race
- nationality
- ethnicity
- clan
- by extension, social group (e.g. office workers 上班族)
How to use 族
族 rarely stands alone. It appears in words like 民族 (mínzú) and 家族 (jiāzú), and as a suffix it labels a type of people in modern slang. Example: 我是上班族。 (Wǒ shì shàngbānzú.) I am an office worker.
族 (zú) looks like a flag on the left with 矢 (arrow) underneath on the right. Picture a clan gathering under its banner, everyone carrying arrows, standing together as one group.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 族 (zú) with 旅 (lǚ, travel), since both share the same left part and top. Check the lower right: 族 has 矢 (arrow), while 旅 has a different ending with no arrow.
族 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
族 zú · race · 11 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 族.
| 民族 | mínzú | nationality; ethnic group |
| 中华民族 | Zhōnghuá Mínzú | the Chinese nation; the Chinese people (collective reference to all the ethnic groups in C |
| 上班族 | shàngbānzú | office workers (as social group) |
| 家族 | jiāzú | family; clan |
| 种族 | zhǒngzú | race; ethnic group |
| 贵族 | guìzú | lord; nobility |
| 族人 | zúrén | clansman; clan members |
| 种族歧视 | zhǒngzúqíshì | racial discrimination; racism |
| 族群 | zúqún | ethnic group; community |
| 一族 | yīzú | social group; subculture |
| 水族馆 | shuǐzúguǎn | aquarium (open to the public) |
| 种族主义 | zhǒngzúzhǔyì | racism |
Questions about 族
What does 族 mean?
族 (zú) means "race; nationality" and is used as a noun and suffix.
How do you write 族?
族 is made of 1 character: 族 (11 strokes). That is 11 strokes in total.
Is 族 an HSK word?
Yes. 族 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 族 used to make new slang words?
Attach 族 to a habit or lifestyle to name a group of people who share it. For example, 月光族 (yuèguāngzú) means people who spend their whole salary every month, and 低头族 (dītóuzú) means people always looking down at their phones.
What is the difference between 民族 and 种族?
民族 (mínzú) refers to a nationality or ethnic group defined by culture, language and history, such as the 56 民族 of China. 种族 (zhǒngzú) means race in a more physical or biological sense, and it often appears in phrases like 种族歧视 (zhǒngzú qíshì), racial discrimination.