也就是说 (yě jiù shì shuō) — in other words; that is to say; namely

Definition

A discourse marker meaning 'in other words / that is to say' — used to rephrase or restate the previous clause in a clearer or more pointed way.

verb

in other wordsthat is to saynamely

Examples

，也就是说，。
Tā bù tóng yì zhè ge jì huà, yě jiù shì shuō, tā fǎn duì wǒ men de fāng àn.
He doesn't agree with this plan; in other words, he opposes our proposal.
，也就是说，。
Wǒ men dé tí qián wán chéng, yě jiù shì shuō, xià zhōu wǔ zhī qián bì xū jiāo.
We need to finish early; that is to say, we must submit it before next Friday.
也就是说，。
yě jiù shì shuō, Nǐ gēn běn méi yǒu rèn zhēn kǎo lǜ guò zhè ge wèn tí.
In other words, you haven't seriously considered this issue at all.

Origin

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

也 originally showed a child crying with an open mouth, with the arms later dropped and the parts fused.

Open 也 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

享享xiǎng
京京jīng

An older form paired 享, a temple, with 京, a tower, showing sacrifice at a high place; in 就 the temple part was dropped and a right part for going upward was added.

Open 就 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 是 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 說; 说 is its simplified writing.

言兌說

Meaning part形符xíngfú

言言yán

Sound part声符shēngfú

兌

兌duì說shuō

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.