類 means “kind, sort”

るい · rui

Also: variety, class

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

たぐい

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ルイ

JLPT N3 · Taught in grade 4 · 18 strokes

The story

Rice (米), big (大) and a head (頁): picture a farmer bent over the harvest, sorting grains by size. 類 is a kind or class: 種類 is type, 書類 are the papers on every desk, and 人類 is all humankind.

Used in 種類 (shurui, type/kind), 書類 (shorui, documents), and 人類 (jinrui, humankind)

More from How Much, How Many

• 余 surplus
• 等 equal
• 列 row
• 幾 how many
• 全 all
• 最 most
• 加 add
• 増 increase
• 両 both
• 割 split
• 種 seed
• 程 extent

Learn 類 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji

Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.