族

tribe, family

JLPTN4StatusJōyō · grade 3FrequencyTop 500Strokes11

Meaning

族 centers on a group of people bound by shared identity: a tribe or family. It emphasizes collective belonging rather than individual relationships.

族 combines 方 (direction/group) with 矢 (arrow), historically suggesting a group united under a banner or symbol, like a clan or tribe.

Picture a group of people (方) gathered around a central banner marked with an arrow (矢). They are a tribe, a family united under one symbol.

For ゾク, imagine a tribe that moves in a flock: flock -> ゾク, and the tribe travels together like a flock of birds.

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Study

族 combines 方 (direction/group) with 矢 (arrow), historically suggesting a group united under a banner or symbol, like a clan or tribe.

Picture a group of people (方) gathered around a central banner marked with an arrow (矢). They are a tribe, a family united under one symbol.

For ゾク, imagine a tribe that moves in a flock: flock -> ゾク, and the tribe travels together like a flock of birds.