Suffix used for ethnic, racial, or familial groups. Often appears in compounds like 漢族 (Han Chinese) or 家族 (family).
Learn about the traditional lifestyle of the Mongol tribe.
He is of Han Chinese descent.
Suffix for a group of people sharing a characteristic, often with a slightly informal or derogatory nuance. Common in words like 暴走族 (biker gang) or 社用族 (expense-account crowd).
Those guys are a bunch that always hang out together.
He's part of the expense-account crowd, often dining at expensive restaurants.
Zoological term for a taxonomic rank between subfamily and genus. Used as a standalone noun or suffix in scientific contexts.
See also: 連
In this classification, tribe is positioned between subfamily and genus.
Chemistry term for a column in the periodic table. Used as a standalone noun or suffix.
Halogen group elements are highly reactive.
属 (ぞく) is the taxonomic rank 'genus', one level below 族 (ぞく) 'tribe', and the two are easily mixed up because they share the same reading and appear together in biological classification.
賊 (ぞく) means 'bandit' or 'thief' and is unrelated in meaning to 族 (ぞく) 'tribe/group', but the identical reading can cause confusion when only heard, not seen.
族 (clan, tribe, group) is pronounced the same as 続 (sequel) but refers to a family or social group, not a continuation.
family; household
ethnic group; people; nation
family; clan; relatives · household; family (as a unit)
nobility; aristocracy; peerage
race; tribe; ethnic group · species; genus; family; taxonomic group · stellar population
relative; kin; family member
bereaved family; surviving family; family of the deceased
tribe; clan
royalty; royal family
The kanji 族 originally depicted a banner and an arrow, symbolizing a clan or military unit. The reading ぞく is the on'yomi, used in compounds to denote a group or category.
imperial family; royalty
same family; same clan; same tribe
patriarch; head of a family; clan chief
barbarian tribe; savage tribe
blood relative; kin by blood
clan; family
powerful family; powerful clan
language family; family of languages
Japanese peerage (1869-1947); nobility; aristocracy
naked tribe · people who go naked at home · people who use devices without a case
samurai lineage; person of samurai descent · shizoku; former samurai class (1869–1947)
three types of relatives
nine nearest generations of relatives
subgroup (periodic table) · subtribe (taxonomy)
low-ranking samurai (1870-1872)
in-law; relative by marriage; affinity relation
family; clan
extermination of a whole family; putting an entire family to death