zei

Zei is a romanized syllable that can refer to different concepts depending on language and context. In Japanese, zei is the on’yomi reading of the kanji 税, which denotes tax. This morpheme forms the core of numerous tax-related words and phrases used in government finance and everyday policy discussions.

In Japanese, 税 appears in terms such as 消費税 (shōhizei, consumption tax), 税率 (zeiritsu, tax rate), 税制 (zeisei, tax system), 税収 (zeishū, tax revenue), 税務 (zeimu, taxation affairs), 税務署 (zeimusho, tax office), and 税金 (zeikin, taxes). The usage of zei in these compounds reflects its central role in public finance, revenue collection, and fiscal policy.

Outside Japanese usage, the sequence "zei" may occur as part of transliterations, personal names, or acronyms in various languages. It does not, by itself, carry a universal meaning in English or other languages and is not treated as a standalone word outside language-specific contexts.

Origin and notes: The concept represented by the Japanese kanji 税 comes from Chinese, where the character is read shuì in Mandarin and carries a similar meaning related to taxation. In Japanese, 税 is read with the on’yomi as zei in compounds, while kun readings are uncommon for this character. The term zei, therefore, chiefly signals tax-related vocabulary within Japanese and is not a general English term.