种
zhǒng · HSK 3
kind
🌱 种 = grain 禾 + heavy 重; the heavy seed-kind a farmer plants
种 means 'kind/type' or 'seed'. The 禾 radical marks grain/crops; 重 (heavy) gives the sound. As a measure word it counts kinds or sorts of things, e.g. 三种 = three kinds.
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.