stratum, social class, layer, story, floor
層 centers on stacked horizontal divisions: a layer, a stratum, a floor of a building, or a level in a social hierarchy.
層 combines 尸 (a building or roof) with 曾, which likely contributes the sound and the idea of piling up or adding layers. The character expresses stacked levels or strata.
Under a roof 尸, the shape 曾 looks like stacked shelves or piled boxes. Picture a multi-story building with each floor as a distinct layer.
For ソウ, imagine a tall building with many floors, and you sew (ソウ) each layer together like fabric. Sew -> ソウ, and the layers are stitched into one structure.
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layer; stratum; seam; bed
upper stratum (classes, stories, storeys); upper layer; layer above
high-rise (building); multistory; multistoried; tall
class; level; stratum; layer; hierarchy
even more; still more; all the more; more than ever
fault; dislocation
lower layer; layer beneath
depths; deep level
stratum; geological formation; layer; bed (coal, gravel, etc.)
clientele; customer stratum
surface; outer layer
very; extremely; exceedingly; greatly; terribly
low-rise (architecture)
laminating; lamination layer
multilayer
multistoried; multilayered
stratosphere
each stratum; each class
middle part; medium depth (water); medium layer; middle lamella
ionosphere