Meaning
群 means a group, flock, crowd, or herd — any mass of individual beings gathered together. Birds wheeling overhead, animals on the plains, a swarm of insects, a surging human crowd: this kanji covers all of them. It appears in everyday speech, news, biology, and sociology whenever you need to describe a multitude.
群 is built from two components: 君 (lord) on the left provides the phonetic reading (gun), while 羊 (sheep) on the right is the semantic radical. Picture a lord watching over his flock — animals clustering under one authority. That image maps directly onto the kanji's meaning: many individuals gathered as one.
With 13 strokes, 群 is taught in grade 5 of Japanese elementary school. It shows up in news articles, nature writing, biology texts, and casual conversation. The compounds it forms are varied and practical — well worth mastering at N2.
Readings
On'yomi (音読み) — Chinese-derived readings
The on'yomi reading is グン (gun). It drives Sino-Japanese compounds (熟語) and dominates in formal, written Japanese.
- 群衆 (gunshuu) — crowd, the masses, multitude of people
- 群島 (guntō) — archipelago, group of islands
- 群雄 (gun'yū) — rival warlords, many powerful figures (lit. a group of heroes/lords)
- 群落 (gunraku) — plant or animal colony, cluster community
- 超群 (chōgun) — outstanding, surpassing all others, peerless
- 群生 (gunsei) — growing in dense clusters, living colonially
Kun'yomi (訓読み) — Native Japanese readings
The kun'yomi readings are む.れる (mureru), む.れ (mure), and むら (mura). むれ is a noun — a flock or herd standing on its own. むれる is the verb form — to flock together or swarm. むらがる means to crowd or cluster around something.
- 群 (mure) — a flock, herd, swarm, or group (standalone noun)
- 群をなす (mure wo nasu) — to form a group, to gather in a flock
- 群れる (mureru) — to flock together, to gather in large numbers
- 群がる (muragaru) — to swarm, to crowd around, to cluster
Common Words & Compounds
群 forms a broad range of compounds across nature, geography, history, and everyday life. Key terms, grouped by theme:
Nature & Biology:
- 群 (mure) — flock, herd, pack, swarm
- 群生 (gunsei) — growing in clusters; colonial growth
- 群落 (gunraku) — plant community, biotic colony
- 魚群 (gyogun) — school of fish
- 羊群 (yōgun) — flock of sheep
Geography & Place:
- 群島 (guntō) — archipelago, chain of islands
- 群馬 (Gunma) — Gunma Prefecture (from 群 + 馬, meaning herds of horses)
People & Society:
- 群衆 (gunshuu) — crowd, multitude, the masses
- 群雄 (gun'yū) — rival warlords, many powerful leaders
- 群像 (gunzō) — group portrait; ensemble of characters (literary term)
Qualitative / Abstract:
- 超群 (chōgun) — peerless, outstanding, head and shoulders above the rest
- 抜群 (batsugun) — outstanding, exceptional, top-class
- 群を抜く (mure wo nuku) — to stand out from the crowd
Example Sentences
公園で鳩の群がパンくずに群がっていた。
Kōen de hato no mure ga pankuzu ni muragatte ita.
A flock of pigeons was crowding around the bread crumbs in the park.
海の中に大きな魚群が見えた。
Umi no naka ni ōkina gyogun ga mieta.
A large school of fish was visible in the sea.
彼女のピアノの実力は抜群だ。
Kanojo no piano no jitsuryoku wa batsugun da.
Her piano ability is outstanding.
渋谷の交差点には群衆が押し寄せた。
Shibuya no kōsaten ni wa gunshuu ga oshiyoseta.
Crowds surged into Shibuya Crossing.
あの研究者は超群の才能を持っている。
Ano kenkyūsha wa chōgun no sainō wo motte iru.
That researcher possesses peerless talent.
春になると、この野原に花が群生する。
Haru ni naru to, kono nohara ni hana ga gunsei suru.
When spring comes, flowers grow in dense clusters across this field.
沖縄は美しい群島から成り立っている。
Okinawa wa utsukushii guntō kara naritatte iru.
Okinawa is made up of beautiful island chains.
子供たちは広場に群をなして遊んでいた。
Kodomotachi wa hiroba ni mure wo nashite asonde ita.
The children were playing in the plaza in a big group.
戦国時代には、群雄が各地で覇権を争っていた。
Sengoku jidai ni wa, gun'yū ga kakuchi de haken wo arasotte ita.
During the Warring States period, rival warlords competed for supremacy across the land.
Memory Tip
Picture a feudal lord (君) on a hillside, a flock of sheep (羊) spread across the meadow below. Animals cluster around him wherever he turns. That scene is built into the kanji: 君 on the left gives the sound (gun/kun); 羊 on the right carries the meaning. Lord + sheep = a crowd that gathers.