stratum, social class, layer, story

About this kanji

The kanji 層 (そう) primarily means "layer" or "stratum," referring to levels or tiers in various contexts, such as physical layers in nature or social classes in society. It is mainly used in noun form rather than as a verb. You will often encounter this character in compounds like 一層 (いっそう), meaning "even more," which conveys an increase in degree; 高層 (こうそう), which refers to a "high-rise" building; and 階層 (かいそう), meaning "class" or "layer" in a social sense. A usage note to remember is that 層 can describe both vertical levels, like floors in a building, and metaphorical layers, such as in discussions about class structure.

Example sentences

• 社会の層が複雑になっている。

  The layers of society are becoming complex.

Meanings across languages

English

stratum, social class, layer, story, floor

Tiếng Việt

tầng lớp, giai cấp xã hội, lớp, tầng, sàn

日本語

層, 社会階級, レイヤー, 階, フロア

한국어

층, 사회적 계층, 겹, 층, 바닥

中文

层, 社会阶层, 层, 楼层, 层面

id

lapisan

th

ชั้น

es

estrato

fr

stratum

de

Schicht

pt

camada

Common compounds

• 一層いっそうeven more, still more, all the more
• 高層こうそうhigh-rise (building), multistory, multistoried
• 階層かいそうclass, level, stratum
• 上層じょうそうupper stratum (classes, stories, storeys), upper layer, layer above
• 深層しんそうdepths, deep level
• 大層たいそうvery, extremely, exceedingly
• 断層だんそうfault, dislocation, gap
• 地層ちそうstratum, geological formation, layer