类 meaning in English
kind; type; class; category; (classifier) kind; type
Meaning of 类
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- kind; type; class; category
- (classifier) kind; type
- (bound form) to resemble; to be similar to
How to use 类
类 usually appears in compounds such as 种类 (zhǒnglèi, kind), 分类 (fēnlèi, to classify) and 人类 (rénlèi, humanity). It can also act as a classifier for kinds of things: 这类问题很常见。(Zhè lèi wèntí hěn chángjiàn.) This kind of problem is very common.
The simplified 类 shows 米 (mǐ, rice) on top of 大 (dà, big). Picture a big pile of rice sorted into the same kind of grain, and you have "kind" or "category."
Common mistake: Learners often write the bottom part as 犬 or add an extra dot, but the bottom of 类 is simply 大. Also keep the fourth tone lèi, which is different from 累 (lèi, tired), a character with the same sound and a different meaning.
类 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.
类 lèi · kind · 9 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 类.
| 人类 | rénlèi | humanity; human race |
| 类似 | lèisì | similar; analogous |
| 类型 | lèixíng | type; kind; category; (computer programming) type |
| 种类 | zhǒnglèi | kind; genus |
| 分类 | fēnlèi | to classify |
| 之类 | zhīlèi | and so on; and such |
| 同类 | tónglèi | similar; same type |
| 诸如此类 | zhūrú-cǐlèi | things like this (idiom); and so on; and the rest |
| 类别 | lèibié | classification; category |
| 一类 | yīlèi | same type; category 1 (i.e. class A) |
| 鸟类 | niǎolèi | birds |
| 这类 | zhèlèi | this kind (of) |
Questions about 类
What does 类 mean?
类 (lèi) means "kind; type; class; category; (classifier) kind; type" and is used as a noun and measure word.
How do you write 类?
类 is made of 1 character: 类 (9 strokes). That is 9 strokes in total.
Is 类 an HSK word?
Yes. 类 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 类 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 类 is written 類.
What is the difference between 类 and 种 when saying "kind"?
Both can be classifiers, as in 这种书 or 这类书. 种 (zhǒng) is more common in everyday speech. 类 sounds a bit more formal and often refers to a broader category or class.
How do I use 之类 at the end of a list?
Put 之类 (zhīlèi) after one or more examples to mean "and things like that." For example, 苹果、香蕉之类的水果 (píngguǒ, xiāngjiāo zhīlèi de shuǐguǒ) means "fruits like apples and bananas." It is often followed by 的 and a noun.