种 (zhǒng): seed, species, kind

种 (zhǒng) is a Chinese character meaning “seed.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 禾 (semantic) and 中 (phonetic). It ranks #57 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 种 grain. Its radical form 禾 (grain) appears in many related characters such as 秋 (qiū, autumn), 科 (kē, branch of study), 租 (zū, to hire).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. seed
  2. species
  3. kind

Etymology & Origin

种

pictophoneticgrain

Decomposition: ⿰禾中 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Practice writing 种 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 种

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
各种pronoungè zhǒngevery kind of4
种子nounzhǒng ziseed5
种类nounzhǒng lèikind5
品种nounpǐn zhǒngbreed5
种植verbzhòng zhíto plant5
播种verbbō zhǒngto sow seeds6
种地verbzhòng dìto farm6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
这种zhè zhǒngthis kind of
那种nà zhǒngthat kind of
某种nounmǒu zhǒngsome kind (of)
杂种nounzá zhǒnghybrid
种族nounzhǒng zúrace
各种各样phrasegè zhǒng gè yàngvarious kinds
特种部队tè zhǒng bù duì(military) special forces
种族主义zhǒng zú zhǔ yìracism
物种nounwù zhǒngspecies
种种adjectivezhǒng zhǒngall kinds of
变种nounbiàn zhǒng(biology) a mutation
孬种nounnāo zhǒngcoward
种马nounzhǒng mǎstallion
种族歧视nounzhǒng zú qí shìracial discrimination
多种nounduō zhǒngmany kinds of
104
Total compounds
28
As first character
69
As last character
3
As middle character

种 appears in 104 compound words: 28 as the first character, 69 as the last, and 3 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Strongest Collocations

Characters that most frequently co-occur with 种 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

栽zāi
0.61516,366 co-occurrences
这zhè
0.606142,726 co-occurrences
物wù
0.50698,804 co-occurrences
培péi
0.49316,438 co-occurrences
一yī
0.487249,884 co-occurrences
两liǎng
0.47939,316 co-occurrences
各gè
0.47271,763 co-occurrences
植zhí
0.46127,060 co-occurrences
况kuàng
0.45612,514 co-occurrences
族zú
0.44231,280 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (10)

刀耕火种dāogēnghuǒzhòngHSK 7+

slash and burn; slash-and-burn agriculture

noun
多种多样duōzhǒngduōyàngHSK 3+

varied; manifold

phrase
各种各样gèzhǒnggèyàngHSK 4+

all sorts; all kinds; various types

phrase
谬种流传miù zhǒng liú chuánHSK 7+

to pass on errors or lies (idiom); the propagation of misconceptions

phrase
特种部队tè zhǒng bù duìHSK 4+

(military) special forces

phrase
亡国灭种wángguómièzhǒngHSK 6+

the country perishes and the ethnicity becomes extinct

phrase
预防接种yù fáng jiē zhòngHSK 5+

prophylactic inoculation

phrase
种族隔离zhǒngzú gélíHSK 5+

racial segregation; apartheid

noun
种族歧视zhǒngzú qíshìHSK 7+

racial discrimination; racism

noun
种族主义zhǒng zú zhǔ yìHSK 5+

racism

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这种新型材料既轻便又坚固,非常适合做航空器材。

Zhè zhǒng xīnxíng cáiliào jì qīngbiàn yòu jiāngù, fēicháng shìhé zuò hángkōng qìcái.

This new type of material is both lightweight and sturdy, very suitable for aviation equipment.

Nownews今日新聞Feb 2026

...“CP值最高商务饭店”是它!日媒:给人一种安心感

. . . C P zhí zuì gāo shāng wù fàn diàn shì tā ! rì méi : gěi rén yī zhǒng ān xīn gǎn

"The best business hotel with the best CP value" is it! Japanese media: It gives people a sense of security

百度新闻Feb 2026

爱读书的工地大叔走红后第一个春节:继续种地、看书,..

ài dòu shū de gōng dì dà shū zǒu hóng hòu dì yī gè chūn jié jì xù zhǒng dì kàn shū , . .

The Book-Loving Construction Worker's First Spring Festival After Going Viral: Continuing Farming and Reading...

百度新闻Feb 2026

...烧出的“团聚”,藏着最浓的奉贤年味丨有一种..

. . . shāo chū de tuán jù , zàng zhe zuì nóng de fèng xián nián wèi 丨 yǒu yī zhǒng . .

...The "reunion" forged through cooking holds the most profound essence of Fengxian's New Year spirit丨There is a kind of...

百度新闻Feb 2026

把年味种在“商城之心”,在商博遇见另一种团圆

bǎ nián wèi zhǒng zài shāng chéng zhī xīn , zài shāng bó yù jiàn lìng yī zhǒng tuán yuán

Plant the festive spirit in the "Heart of the Mall," Where commerce meets reunion in a different way.

百度新闻Feb 2026

“儿时埋下一颗种子要为国争光”,徐梦桃五战冬奥,卫..

ér shí mái xià yī kē zhǒng zǐ yāo wéi guó zhēng guāng , xú mèng táo wǔ zhàn dōng ào , wèi . .

"Childhood buried a seed to fight for the country", Xu Mengtao five winter Olympics, defending...

Tatoeba

说谎总是一种罪吗?

Shuōhuǎng zǒngshì yīzhǒng zuì ma?

Is it always a sin to tell a lie?

Tatoeba

这种昆虫在英语中叫什么?

Zhèzhǒng kūnchóng zài Yīngyǔ zhōng jiào shénme?

What do you call this insect in English?

Tatoeba

菜单上有多少种比萨?

Càidān shàng yǒu duōshao zhǒng bǐsà?

How many different kinds of pizzas are on the menu?

Tatoeba

你擅长说哪种语言?

Nǐ shàncháng shuō nǎ zhǒng yǔyán?

What languages are you good at speaking?

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 禾 (grain) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced zhǒng

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 种 (zhǒng) mean in Chinese?
种 (zhǒng) primarily means "seed." It is classified as HSK Level 3, making it a beginner-level character. It ranks #57 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 种 and 冲?
种 (zhǒng) and 冲 (chōng) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 禾 vs 冫 (same 中 component).
How many strokes does 种 have?
种 is written with 9 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 种?
The radical associated with 种 is 禾 (grain). This radical appears in many characters related to grain.
What are the components of 种?
种 is composed of: 禾 (semantic), 中 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰禾中 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 种?
Common words with 种 include: 这种 (zhè zhǒng, "this kind of"); 那种 (nà zhǒng, "that kind of"); 某种 (mǒu zhǒng, "some kind (of)"); 杂种 (zá zhǒng, "hybrid"); 各种 (gè zhǒng, "every kind of"). There are over 104 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 种 (zhǒng)?
Several characters share the pronunciation zhǒng: 钟 (clock, bell), 忠 (loyal), 肿 (to swell), 中 ((bound form) China), and 4 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 种 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
No. The simplified form is 种 and the traditional form is 種.

Practice writing 种 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.