一種

いっしゅ · isshu · JLPT N3 · noun

species

🌱 一種 = one + seed: things grown from one seed are one kind

種 (shu) means seed, and by extension breed, species or type. 一種 (isshu) literally means one seed-type, so a species or kind. Speakers also use it like English a sort of, as in 一種の芸術, a kind of art.

一 — single horizontal stroke
一 is one of the simplest pictographs in Chinese, depicting a single horizontal line to represent the number one. It has retained essentially the same form since oracle bone script over 3,000 years ago. By extension it also means 'first,' 'whole,' or 'same.'

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