層
層 — Stratum
stratum, social class, layer, story, floor
On’yomiソウ (sou)
Kun’yomi—
Stroke order (14 strokes)
Watch the strokes draw themselves in the correct order — numbers mark where each stroke starts. Diagram from KanjiVG (CC BY-SA).
Common words using 層
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 一層 | いっそう issou | even more; still more; all the more |
| 高層 | こうそう kousou | high-rise (building); multistory; multistoried |
| 断層 | だんそう dansou | fault; dislocation; gap |
| 階層 | かいそう kaisou | class; level; stratum |
| 地層 | ちそう chisou | stratum; geological formation; layer |
| 年齢層 | ねんれいそう nenreisou | age range; age-group; age bracket |
Study notes
層 is a JLPT N2 kanji written with 14 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 6), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #801 of the 2,500 most frequent kanji in newspapers. On’yomi (音読み) are Chinese-derived readings mostly used in compound words; kun’yomi (訓読み) are native Japanese readings, with any highlighted part written in hiragana after the kanji (okurigana).
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