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

Definition

A discourse marker used to rephrase or clarify what was just said, similar to 'that is to say' or 'in other words' in English. Typically set off by a pause or comma.

verb

that is to sayin other wordsnamely

Examples

，就是说，。
Zhè ge fāng àn bú xiàn shí, jiù shì shuō, wǒ men gēn běn fù dān bù qǐ.
This plan is unrealistic; in other words, we simply can't afford it.
，就是说，。
Tā shì wǒ mǔ qīn de dì di, jiù shì shuō, wǒ de jiù jiu.
He is my mother's younger brother; that is to say, my maternal uncle.
，就是说，。
Nǐ xū yào jǐn kuài wán chéng zhè xiàng gōng zuò, jiù shì shuō, zuì wǎn zhōu wǔ zhī qián.
You need to finish this task as soon as possible; in other words, by Friday at the latest.

Origin

Characters in this word

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.