品种
pǐn zhǒng · HSK 5
variety
🐕🌾 品 = three mouths (kinds/types) + 种 = seed/variety
品 stacks three 口 (mouths) to mean kinds or grades — different categories side by side. 种 carries the 禾 (grain) radical and means seed or variety. Together: breed or variety, the different types of a thing.
品 — three 口 (mouth) stacked
品 is an ideogram showing three 口 (mouths or openings) piled together. The repetition of 口 suggests many people, items, or voices, which gave rise to meanings like 'kinds,' 'goods,' 'rank,' and 'to taste/judge.' The triple stacking is a common Chinese device for indicating plurality or variety.
种 — grain radical 禾 + heavy 重 (phonetic)
种 is a semantic-phonetic compound: 禾 (grain) gives the meaning, while 重 supplies the sound. Originally it referred to seeds and the act of sowing grain, then broadened to 'kind' or 'type' (a category, like a strain of seed). In simplified Chinese it also absorbed the traditional 種.