种类
zhǒnglèi · HSK 4
form
🗂️ 种 (seed/kind) + 类 (category) = kinds/types of things
种 means seed or variety, 类 means category or class. Together 种类 literally stacks 'kind' + 'category' to mean type, sort, or species. The English gloss 'kidney/race/form' reflects its broad sense of classification.
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.
类 — rice 米 + big 大 + dog 犬
类 (traditional 類) originally combined 米 (rice/grains) with 犬 (dog), suggesting things grouped by similarity, possibly from sorting grains or comparing dogs of a kind. Over time it came to mean 'kind, type, category.' The simplified form keeps 米 over 大, dropping the dog.