• 種たね — seed
• 種類しゅるい — type / kind
• 人種じんしゅ — race (ethnic group)
• 品種ひんしゅ — breed / strain
• 種目しゅもく — event (e.g. Olympic)
• 種族しゅぞく — tribe / species

種 uses the radical 禾 (grain) and the character 重 (heavy), suggesting “something heavy like grain”—thus linking the idea of seed with weight or value. Over time, it also came to mean type or classification.

この種たねは すぐに発芽はつがします。
This seed will sprout quickly.

いろいろな種類しゅるいのパンがあります。
There are many kinds of bread.

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