種

種 (Kangxi radical 115, 禾+9, 14 strokes, cangjie input 竹木竹十土 (HDHJG), four-corner 2291₄, composition ⿰禾重)

• 𭢸, 𮃲, 𡽯, 𧀑, 𥵾, 㘒

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 856, character 16
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 25174
• Dae Jaweon: page 1281, character 33
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 4, page 2617, character 17
• Unihan data for U+7A2E

Historical forms of the character 種
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Small seal script

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *tjoŋʔ, *tjoŋs): semantic 禾 + phonetic 重 (OC *doŋ, *doŋʔ, *doŋs).

Perhaps Sino-Tibetan: Chepang (tuŋʔ-, “to plant”), दुङ् (duŋ, “shoot; sprout”), दुङ्‌सा (duŋ-, “to sprout; to grow”). Compare 腫 (OC *tjoŋʔ, “to swell”) and 踵 (OC *tjoŋʔ, “heel”).

Related to Proto-Vietic *k-coːŋʔ (“seed”) (Vietnamese giống (“seed”)), which is likely a loanword from Chinese (Wang, 1948).

Pronunciation 2 (“to sow; to plant”) is the exoactive derivation of pronunciation 1 (“seed”).

種

1. seed; kernel; cereal

   菜種／菜种  ―  càizhǒng  ―  seed of vegetable

2. clan; ethnic group; ethnicity; race

   人種／人种  ―  rénzhǒng  ―  race

   種族／种族  ―  zhǒngzú  ―  ethnicity

3. (taxonomy) species; breed
4. kind; sort; type
5. Classifier for varieties: kind; sort; type ⇒ all nouns using this classifier

   各種／各种  ―  gèzhǒng  ―  every kind

   • 這種話你別再說了。
     这种话你别再说了。

     Zhè zhǒng huà nǐ bié zài shuō le.

     Don't talk about those types of things anymore.

6. (colloquial) guts; grit
7. a surname, Zhong

• (kind):

• (guts):

種

1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to sow; to strew
2. to grow; to plant; to cultivate

   種樹／种树  ―  zhòng shù  ―  to plant a tree

3. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to breed; to bring up
4. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to foster; to train
5. to transplant; to inoculate

• (to cultivate):

種

1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) cereal that is to plant early and to harvest lately
2. a surname

• “種”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• 莆田市荔城区档案馆 , editor (2022), “种”, in 莆仙方言文读字汇 (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), page 311.

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

種

Wikipedia ^ja

(Fourth grade kyōiku kanji)

1. seed
2. plant, sow
3. class, kind, variety
4. (taxonomy) species

• Go-on: しゅ (shu, Jōyō)^{←しゆ (syu, historical)}
• Kan-on: しょう (shō)^{←しよう (syou, historical)}
• Kun: たね (tane, 種, Jōyō)、くさ (kusa, 種)、くさわい (kusawai, 種)^{←くさはひ (kusafafi, 種, historical)}
• Nanori: おさ (osa)、おい (oi)、かず (kazu)、ぐさ (gusa)、しげ (shige)、た (ta)、ふさ (fusa)、ほ (ho)

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

種

Wikipedia ^ja

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *tanay.

• (Tokyo) たね (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

種(たね) or 種(タネ) • (tane) 

1. a seed

   Synonym: 種子 (shushi)

2. a pit or stone in a fruit

   Synonym: 実 (sane)

3. a gamete (reproductive cell such as a spermatozoan or egg)
4. a lineage, bloodline

   Synonyms: 血統 (kettō), 血筋 (chisuji)

5. an origin, cause

   Synonyms: 根源 (kongen), 原因 (gen'in)

6. the materials or ingredients from which something is made

   Synonyms: 原料 (genryō), 材料 (zairyō)

7. capital, funds, seed money

   Synonyms: 元金 (gankin, motokin), 元手 (motode)

• 胤(たね) (tane)

• 種(たね)が割(わ)れる (tane ga wareru, “crack seeds → realize truth”)
• 種(たね)を蒔(ま)く (tane o maku, “sow seeds → make a cause”)
• 種(たね)を宿(やど)す (tane o yadosu, “plant a seed → conceive”)

• 精(せい)子(し) (seishi, “sperm”)
• 卵(らん)子(し) (ranshi, “egg”)

種(たね) • (Tane) 

1. a female given name
2. a surname

From Old Japanese.

Possibly derived from or cognate with 草(くさ) (kusa, “grass”), from the way grass grows from its base, hence origin.

• (Tokyo) くさ (Odaka – )
• IPA^(key):

種(くさ) • (kusa) 

1. 草: an origin, cause
2. a type, class

   Synonyms: 種類 (shurui), 類い (tagui)

種(くさ) • (-kusa) 

1. counter for number of kinds or types

⟨kusa papi₁⟩ → * /kusapapʲi/ → /kusafafi/ → /kusawawʲi/ → /kusawai/

Compound of 種(くさ) (kusa, “origin; type”) + 這(は)い (hai, “widely spread out”, the 連用形(れんようけい) (ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) of 這(は)う (hau, “to spread out widely”)).

• IPA^(key):

種(くさわい) • (kusawai) ^{←くさはひ (kusafafi)?}

1. an origin, cause

   Synonym: 原因 (gen'in)

2. a type, class

   Synonyms: 種類 (shurui), 類い (tagui)

3. an interest, appeal

   Synonyms: 趣 (omomuki), 面白み (omoshiromi)

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

種 (分類学)

Wikipedia ^ja

/t͡ɕɨu/ → /ɕʲu/ → /ɕu/

From Middle Chinese 種 (MC tsyowngX).

• (Tokyo) しゅ (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

種(しゅ) • (shu) ^{←しゆ (syu)?}

1. a seed

   Synonym: 種子 (shushi)

2. a kind, type, sort, class, or category

   Synonyms: 種類 (shurui), 類い (tagui)

3. (taxonomy) a species

From Middle Chinese 種 (MC tsyowngX, “seed”).

• (seed; kernel):
  • (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key):
  • Phonetic hangul:
• (kind; sort; etc.):
  • (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key):
  • Phonetic hangul:
    • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

種

Wikisource

種 (eumhun 씨 종 (ssi jong))

1. hanja form^? of 종 (“seed; kernel”)
2. hanja form^? of 종 (“kind; sort; type”)
3. hanja form^? of 종 (“(taxonomy) species”)