How to say "mass" in Japanese

• 大量たいりょうCommon
  na-adjective, no-adjectiveHandles 'mass' as a modifier, as in mass production, mass transit, or mass destruction, and independently means a large quantity. Choose it when emphasizing sheer volume or scale rather than a single physical object.
  日本にっぽんは紙かみを大量たいりょうに消費しょうひする。↗

  Japan consumes a lot of paper.
• 集団しゅうだんJLPT N3approx.Common
  nounMeans 'group' above all; its 'mass' sense is a collective of individuals, so it suits a mass of people, not a mass of material. Think of a crowd or other body of people.
  君きみはいまやエリート集団しゅうだんの一員いちいんだ。↗

  You are now among the elite.
• 塊かたまりJLPT N2approx.Common
  nounCovers a concrete, physical mass: a lump, clump, or bundle of material holding together as one piece. Use it when 'mass' means a solid blob of something, not an amount or a crowd.
  巨大きょだいな肉にくの塊かたまりが当あたった。↗

  I was hit by a huge chunk of meat.
• マスCommon
  nounThe katakana loanword. Physical mass is 質量, and senses like a lump, a crowd, or mass production take native words, so this is seldom the word you want on its own.
• 質量しつりょうCommon
  nounThe scientific term: mass as a physical quantity of matter, treated in physics and distinct from weight. Use this for the technical sense, the mass of an object measured in kilograms.

For physical mass in science use 質量; for a lump of material 塊; for a mass of people 集団; for mass- as in mass production or a large quantity 大量; 「マス」 is the loanword, rarely needed.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 大量たいりょうlarge quantity
• 集団しゅうだんgroup
• 塊かたまりlump
• マスmass
• 質量しつりょうmass
• 団塊だんかいmass
• 黒山くろやまmass (of people)
• ミサ曲ミサきょくmass
• 腫瘤しゅりゅうlump
• 一朶いちだ(a) branch (of flowers)
• 集塊しゅうかいagglomerate (e.g. of cells, molecules, etc.)
• ミサ(Catholic) Mass
• ボリュームvolume
• 団子状だんごじょうlump (of many different things)
• Ｍエムmass