类 (lèi) is a Chinese character meaning “kind”. It is written from 米 (rice (uncooked grains)) and 大 (big), one above the other, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “kind; category”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
米 + 大
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: Unicode IDS ⿱米大, checked against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph strokes (6 + 3 = 9)
Memory aid
Grains of rice (米) poured into one big (大) pile — every grain the same kind. That pile is a category, a class, a 类.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 人类rén lèihumankind; humanity; the human race类 = lèi
- 种类zhǒng lèikind; type; variety类 = lèi
- 鸟类niǎo lèibirds; the bird family类 = lèi
- 另类lìng lèialternative; unconventional类 = lèi
Go deeper
All readings
kind; category
kind; type; category; class; to resemble
许多相似或相同事物的综合；种类。也表示相似、好像。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 人类rén lèihumankind; humanity; the human race类 = lèi
- 种类zhǒng lèikind; type; variety类 = lèi
- 鸟类niǎo lèibirds; the bird family类 = lèi
- 另类lìng lèialternative; unconventional类 = lèi
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 类 mean?
类 (lèi) means kind; type; category; class; to resemble.
How do you pronounce 类?
It is pronounced lèi.
What parts is 类 made of?
米 (rice (uncooked grains)) and 大 (big), one above the other. The recorded source is: Unicode IDS ⿱米大, checked against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph strokes (6 + 3 = 9). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 类 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 类?
米. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 类?
Common ones are 人类, 种类, 鸟类. The reading of 类 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.