TongTong
Sign in

品种 (pǐn zhǒng) — breed (of animals); variety (of plants or products)

Definition

品种 refers to a breed or variety of a specific organism or product (cats, apples, coffee) — more concrete than 种类, which is a general category or type.

noun
breed (of animals)variety (of plants or products)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 品种。
    Zhè zhǒng māo pǐn zhǒng hěn shòu huān yíng.
    This breed of cat is very popular.
  • 品种。
    Zhè ge píng guǒ pǐn zhǒng hěn tián.
    This variety of apple is very sweet.
  • 品种。
    Zhè jiā diàn mài hěn duō kā fēi pǐn zhǒng.
    This store sells many varieties of coffee.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

品pǐnkind
种zhǒngkind

品种 joins 品 and 种, both expressing kind or type, to mean a variety or breed.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

品 repeats the same simple shape three times, representing various objects.

Open 品 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
禾禾hérice
Sound part声符shēngfú
中
中zhōng种zhǒng
Same sound today

种 pairs 禾, which shows rice or grain and fits meanings like plant and seed, with 中, which gives its sound.

Open 种 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 5Biology

Browse more HSK 5 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.