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人类 (rén lèi) — humanity, the human race, mankind

Definition

人类 refers to humanity as a whole species (all people collectively). Distinguish from 人体 (the physical body) and 人性 (human nature as a concept).

noun
humanitythe human racemankind

Examples

  • 人类。
    rén lèi De fā zhǎn lí bù kāi kē xué.
    The development of humanity cannot be separated from science.
  • 人类。
    Bǎo hù huán jìng shì rén lèi gòng tóng de zé rèn.
    Protecting the environment is the common responsibility of humanity.
  • 人类。
    rén lèi Xī wàng shì jiè hé píng.
    Humanity hopes for world peace.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

人rénhuman
类lèikind

人 as human combined with 类 as kind names the human race.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 類; 类 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
犬犬quǎn
Sound part声符shēngfú
頪
頪lèi類lèi
Same sound today

The traditional form 類 pairs 犬, which relates to the meaning, with 頪, which gives the sound. The simplified 类 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 类 →
Appears in
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