Copyright © 2026 Kotomora. All Rights Reserved.
集落 (しゅうらく, shuuraku) Japanese meaning: settlement | Kotomora
Report an issue with this page
しゅう
落らく
に
住す
ん
で
いる
。
I live in a small mountain settlement.
Old villages are scattered throughout this region.
Usage patterns 〈 場ば 所しょ 〉 に 集しゅう 落らく ができる a settlement forms in a place
A small settlement formed along the river.
培ばい 地ち に 集しゅう 落らく が 現あらわ れる a colony appears on a culture medium
A bacterial colony appeared on the culture medium.
集しゅう 落らく を 形けい 成せい する to form a settlement
集しゅう 落らく が 点てん 在ざい する settlements are scattered about
Small settlements are scattered throughout the mountainous region.
Kanji 集 gather, meet, congregate Related words 村落 is a more formal or academic term for a village used in geography and sociology, while 集落 is the everyday word for any clustered settlement.
コロニー is a katakana loanword often used for animal, insect, or human colonies, whereas 集落 is the native Japanese term also used specifically for bacterial colonies in biology.
村 is the plain, everyday word for a village, while 集落 is a more neutral, slightly technical term that can describe any cluster of dwellings regardless of administrative status.
集落 is the neutral, standard term for a settlement or hamlet, while 部落 can refer to the same thing but carries sensitive historical connotations in many contexts.
Don't confuse with 部落 historically meant a small hamlet like 集落, but today it often carries associations with buraku discrimination in Japan, so 集落 is the safer, neutral word to use.
Etymology From Middle Chinese 集落 (d͡ziɪp̚ lɑk̚), meaning 'gathering place' or 'settlement'. The kanji 集 means 'gather' and 落 means 'village' or 'hamlet'. The variant 聚落 uses the older character 聚 for 'gather'.
People have formed settlements in this area since ancient times.